Fairy Tail Circus
by izzybr
Summary: Join Levy McGarden as she enters the well known Fairy Tale Circus and see how she learns the tricks of the trade while trying to outrun the past ghosts that continue to haunt her. Can a certain dark-haired, grouchy man help to heal Levy of her past demons? read on to find out! GaLe, though many pairings are also included ;) T for swearing (mostly Gajeel's fault :D)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! this is my first ever fan fiction, so please read and review, and go easy on me :) I absolutely love Gajeel x Levy and fairy tail!**

**fairy tail and these characters all belong to Hiro Mashima!**

It was a rather normal day in the city of Magnolia, and considering it was a Sunday it was quite peaceful as many of the townspeople had opted to stay in or near their homes for the day.

However this peace was quite abruptly shattered by a very small blue blur, which turned out to be a blue haired woman, racing through the magnolia train station at full speed, shouting profanities and shoving anyone unfortunate enough to get in her way to the ground as she quickly made her way to the boarding platform.

"Hey! Wait for me, I still have to get on!" screeched the woman as she bolted as fast as she could with her large bag down the length of the train to the only car that was still open for boarding passengers.

She had made it half way when her face turned to an expression of absolute horror when she saw the door close, signalling that the train was starting to leave.

"Stop!" she screamed at the top of her voice, but it was completely useless as the train began to exit the station. Practically on the verge of a panic attack, the woman ran back into the station knowing that stopping the train now was nearly impossible.

Shoving people out of her way with her heavy bag, she made a bee- line for the information and help desk, startling the poor woman behind the counter who already looked quite flustered after attending to some other unhappy passengers.

The blue haired woman slammed her hand down on the counter (with some difficulty considering her small height) and glared at the woman behind the desk, who was wondering what in the hell she had done to earn the blue haired midgets' demon-like wrath.

"I need to get to Crocus as fast as possible, when is the next train?" the woman demanded with surprising force despite her small stature.

The lady behind the desk quickly began rifling through a series of time tables, fearing she might get a thrashing from the woman, who was now impatiently slapping her hand down on the desk.

She finally yanked out a piece of paper from the pile and began to sputter in fear of the angry customer, "ah...um, well the next train is not till...Friday."

The face of the small woman in front of her contorted into an expression of disbelief and her eyes boggled. The lady at the desk began to shrink back into her chair, expecting explosive behaviour in the blue haired woman's reaction.

" WHAT?!"

And thus began the woman behind the desks twenty minute long attempt at calming down the panicking blue haired woman, so that she would not need to call in security to drag her away.

...

Levy Mcgarden stood opposite the train station, repeatedly slamming her forehead against the wall in frustration and internally cursing her ability to sleep through her alarm. "_Crap, crap, shit! I can't believe I slept in!" _she thought while her blue wavy hair flew through the air as her head made an impact on the brick wall for the fifteenth time.

"_Stupid public holiday. I can't believe they are closing the train station for four days because people are off work, ridiculous!" _ She said to herself as she began to walk down the street, dragging her heavy bag while also holding her pounding forehead.

Levy began to think about her current situation while she headed to a small cafe a few blocks from the station "_I can't stay here much longer, they will be looking for me by now. The reason I chose Crocus was because it's got so many people and it would make it difficult for them to find me!" _She cursed again when she realised that she would be unable to return to the hotel she left that morning because it had no vacancies when she had checked out.

"_Where the hell could I possibly go now?" _She grumbled.

Levy checked her purse and let out a loud sigh, of course travelling from the country of Seven to the country of Fiore had been expensive, and she only had a couple of hundred jewels left. Only just enough to last her the rest of the week, though the hotel she had stayed in was one of the cheapest, the long travel had drained her money stash pretty quickly. She was still counting on finding a job once she reached Crocus so that she could actually earn a living.

Sighing again, Levy decided to avoid the cafe to save money and began to look for a cheap hotel.

"_I guess I should plan to stay a little while longer" _She thought as she headed towards the district in Magnolia that had most of the cheap little inns lining up and down the streets. Starting there seemed to be the best option.

...

Levy groaned and leaned against the wall feeling absolutely exhausted and fed up. Her search almost seemed to be for nothing since almost all of the cheapest hotels and inns were either completely full, or were in horrible condition with paint peeling off the walls, with leaks and dirty furniture.

Feeling absolutely hopeless, she trudged down the street with a gloomy aura making most of the people passing by immediately cross the road as if her depressing mood was contagious.

Wondering if she may have to beg for suitable lodgings for the next few days and find a small job like helping old ladies for money, Levy stumbled across the road glaring at the billboards lining the streets. She was about to turn down a main street to find a place for dinner when the very last billboard made her stop in her tracks.

She gaped, her jaw almost hitting the floor at what she read and almost face palmed. "_I can't believe I missed this! This could work; with this...I may not even need to go to Crocus to get away!_ She grinned as she read the sign, and began to memorise all of the little details.

_"Fairy Tail Circus,"_ She thought, a smile plastered to her face. She knew that running away to a circus sounded completely unoriginal and absurd, but that was also the reason why they would probably never even think to look there.

What also caught her attention was the writing in smaller print in one of the lower corners of the billboard. The words **recruiting now** stood out to her even more than the rest of the sign, and Levy knew that there was a high chance of being hired even though she didn't possess any talent worthy of being in a circus. Well, not that she knew of anyway. She could always help with maintenance or something.

Humming and giggling, Levy walked down the street in the direction of the circus, imagining herself in a clown suit and travelling all year long in a circus taking her further and further away from the trouble back home in the country of Seven.

...

He growled in anger and frustration as he dropped the metal club for the fourth time in the last two hours of practice. He knew he was off his game today, ever since that clash with the rival company on Thursday.

He cursed as he thought about those greedy, good for nothing little shits that even _thought _about setting foot in their big top and barging into their boss's office, demanding that he hand over the company or they will take it by force.

Just thinking about it had him shaking in anger. "_I need to hit something" _he thought as he tried to reign in his almost uncontrollable fury. "_Damn freakin' Jose and his idiot company to the very depths of hell_!"He had once worked for Jose, but that part of his life was long gone and he did not like to revisit it at all.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a smooth, deep voice. "Hey, Gajeel I think we should take a break now".

Gajeel looked up at the dark skinned man standing before him and growled again. "I'm _fine _Lily, I can keep going" he said as he worked to remove the tension in his shoulders which had built up during his little fit of rage.

Lily sighed and placed a hand on Gajeels shoulder "You're so damned stubborn, you know that? We need to take a break or you will strain your shoulder even more than you should, especially after what happened on Thursday".

Gajeel glanced up at Lily's arm and neck, where a few healing wounds were still visible. Who knew one of Fiore's leading companies would be willing to play dirty, even if it was to gain control of the most successful circus in the country. Whilst fighting off Jose's cronies, many of the members had gotten a few wounds, Gajeel himself had pulled the muscles in his right shoulder after putting all he had into punching the crap out of one of the most troublesome ones. He smiled evilly at the satisfaction of getting to break the guys jawbone to teach him a lesson.

He hated to admit it, but Lily was right. If he strained his healing shoulder even more, he wouldn't be able to perform for a couple of days at least. He reluctantly nodded and Lily smiled, in that nice way of his. Gajeel was glad Lily was his partner, since they both got along rather well and he usually stopped him from doing anything too reckless.

Gajeel grumbled before reaching back to release his long, black, spiky hair from the pony tail. He felt better when it came loose; he preferred it that way, but tied it back when training or performing since it could get annoying.

Lily smiled again, "you need to let it go man, we beat the shit out of those guys and sent them running with their tails between their legs. They won't be coming back".

Gajeel grinned. "You won't believe how good it felt after not kicking some ass for a few years".

Lily frowned. "You really do have some strange and worrying hobbies".

"All part of my charm" he grinned, the late afternoon sun glancing off his piercings and tanned olive skin, adding to the effect.

Both men turned to look at the towering roof of the big top, not far off in the distance. They were standing in an empty field, a great place to practice their act without injuring any unfortunate bystanders that may get too close. It was also very peaceful and helped them to concentrate away from the busy, crowded bustle that was Fairy Tail Circus.

Lily glanced at the metal juggling clubs that were littered all over the ground and sighed. "Well I think we have trained enough for today, we should go back and get ready for tonight or Makarov will come looking for us".

Gajeel grimaced, "If the old geezer even _thinks_ of trying to convince us to wear freakin' leotards again, I won't let you hold me back in kicking his ass into the next decade".

Lily gave him a cat-like grin, "I might just agree with you on that one".

Both men chuckled and began collecting the clubs before heading back to Fairy Tail to get ready for their act.

...

Gajeel and Lily both watched the growing crowd begin to file into the big top to watch the performance. The whole of Fairy Tail was buzzing with activity and excitement as the member's prepared for the show. Almost everyone had been out of action, recovering since Thursday causing the show to be moved up to Sunday.

Gajeel was grinning in anticipation. After doing nothing but sit on his ass for the last few days he was exited to finally get the buzz of startling the audience with different techniques him and Lily had created with the juggling clubs and other objects.

Both decided to then head off towards the big top from their caravan to see what was happening with the other members before the show started.

"Oy! Metal head!" A pink haired man shouted from further away."When this is over I'm going to singe that long hair of yours right off!

"You keep your freaky fire breathing away from me, salamander, or I will shave your girly hair off while you sleep!" growled Gajeel, who was not in the mood for talking to the fire eater.

"I would take his warning to heart if I were you Natsu" Lily said, an amused grin on his face.

Natsu's only response was to place the end of his flaming fire stick in his mouth before hurrying away to entertain the crowd with his fire eating techniques, wanting to keep his hair as far from Gajeel as possible.

Walking onwards, Lily and Gajeel avoided Bixlow's voodoo tent (he would always creep them out) and past Greys frozen refreshments stall, which was always popular in the summer.

"Hey ice stripper! Put on some pants before you scare the customers!"Shouted Gajeel.

Grey looked down and noticed that he had almost ended up removing his boxers. "Shit! Where are my clothes?!"

He didn't seem to notice a red faced Juvia hiding behind the opposite stall, holding almost all of his clothes. "Juvia thinks Grey-Sama should remain in his boxers whilst Juvia wards off all female customers "she giggled, before glaring at a pair of girls heading in Greys direction.

Gajeel rolled his eyes at the blue haired woman, though for her this was completely normal.

The two men finally entered the big top, and roughly greeted the other performers before taking their usual place behind Erza Scarlett, the sword thrower and swallower. Being around her always made Gajeel fidgety, since she was bossy, yet scary as hell.

"Only a few minutes to go", muttered Lily. "You ready? "

The raven haired juggler snorted and let a devilish grin spread across his face."I have been waiting for this ever since I stuffed up my arm punching that bastard".

They both exchanged a grin before settling down to wait for their cue.

The sudden sound of instruments and a cheering audience brought anticipation and excitement to Gajeel once again as the show began, with ring master Makarov introducing each act.

One by one each group entered the ring to perform, each one being introduced by a personalised instrumental piece and the ring master giving names and specialities to the audience.

Finally, Gajeel heard his and Lily's introduction and they both stepped out into the ring, grinning from ear to ear. It had only been a few days, but he had missed this feeling of strength the crowd gave him as they cheered while he and Lily expertly threw their clubs into the air in a complex series of routines that had the audience giving standing ovations and encores.

With a last mischievous smile at Lily as they both took their positions, Gajeel began to lose himself in the excitement of the well practiced techniques that had the audience cheering and begging for more.

He couldn't think of anything better than this.

**Well that's it for chapter 1! hope you guys like it, please let me know if there are any mistakes. Please read and review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here is chapter 2! Thanks everyone for the positive feedback, Its given me motivation to write more! I think I will do next chapter in Gajeels POV.**

**all characters and Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima!**

The billboard had specified that the show would start in the late afternoon, and since Levy had wanted to save money she had walked all the way there, which wasn't too bad since she had made it an hour before it actually started.

Levy followed the growing mass of people through the gates towards the large silhouette of Fairy Tail's big top. She couldn't help gasping in awe at the large towering structure that was surrounded by smaller tents and stalls. "_It's even more amazing than I thought it would be!"_ She thought as she felt excitement begin to build in anticipation of the performance. Levy continued to follow the crowd before lining up at one of the ticket vendors, taking her place close to the front so that she could buy her ticket early

After buying her ticket for a reasonable price she checked her watch. "_Still half an hour to go...I can look around for twenty minutes before taking my seat". _

Levy then began to search around the different food stands, souvenir stalls and entertainment tents to see if Fairy Tail was a suitable place for her to attempt to get recruited.

She stopped outside a very intricately detailed gypsy tent and read over the many signs, her eyes stopping on a particular one that she found interesting. "_Fortune telling",_ she thought. "Well, what harm could it do?" she said out loud before brushing past the purple curtain and into the tent.

Levy gaped whey she set her eyes on her surroundings. The tent actually concealed a small room with wooden, removable walls that were dripping with tapestries and beautiful artworks. A small wooden table draped in silk gypsy scarves was placed in the centre, surrounded by cushions that she assumed were for sitting on whilst the floor was decorated with Persian rugs.

"You like what you see?" Said an amused voice that made Levy jump and turn her eyes towards a slightly darkened corner. The concealed figure in the corner emerged to reveal a beautiful woman with long brown hair and Levy realised that the reason she hadn't spotted her before was because she, like the rest of the room, was covered in head to toe in patterned fabric that almost camouflaged her against the tapestries on the walls.

The woman chuckled at Levy's surprised expression, "welcome to my tent, you may hear people calling me Madame Alberona, which is a load of crap by the way. You can just call me Cana".

Levy just stared at the woman, shocked at her carefree manner. "_Should she really be saying things like that to customers?"_

Cana walked over to the table and plopped herself down on the plump cushions with a grin and beckoned Levy forward, motioning for her to take a seat on the other side.

Levy walked and felt herself sink into the cushions as she sat down, under the gaze of the gypsy woman before her. Suddenly a strong smell made her recoil and her nose wrinkled. Yup there was no doubt about it; it was the smell of alcohol.

"Um...are you really allowed to drink while working?"Levy asked cautiously.

Cana just smirked, "nothing in the rule book against it honey, besides...I was drinking this morning. Don't drink on the job because it totally fucks up my readings".

Levy just stared and nodded slowly, though she was shocked at the brunette's casual use of the F-word.

Cana smiled. " Ok sweetie. Do you want a reading? Or want me to find your lost car keys or somethin'? Can't just sit here and talk about random shit ya know".

"Uh...a reading please, not a big one or anything, just something for the next few weeks" She said. "_I don't want my whole life story being told to me in a single moment."_

The gypsy woman proceeded to shuffle a pack of tarot cards that she seemed to pull out of nowhere, carefully bending and flipping them through the air in impressive arcs and circles before placing the pack face down on the table.

Cana then flipped up the first card. "The six of wands, means that you shall have success".

Levy could not help grinning. "_maybe things wont be so bad after all."_

She then flipped the second card. "The fool, you know exactly what you want and what you're doing, but will reach a crossroads."

Levy gulped, she did not like the direction this reading was going.

The brunette finally flipped the third card. "The lovers...I don't think I really need to explain that one", Cana winked and sent a mischievous grin in her direction. Levy felt her face flush a deep red as she tried to look anywhere but at the woman before her.

"So basically, in the next few weeks, you shall have success in reaching your goal, but will reach a crossroads where you will need to decide on what you need to do next. And during that time, you will start to become attached to someone in a 'special' way". Cana grinned, seemingly quite happy with her prediction.

Levy just sat there, mouth open, completely speechless. "_This was not what I expected at all!"_

Cana then gave Levy a playful look, "You should be pretty happy with that, some unlucky people get things like death, so perk up!"

The blue haired woman sighed, "I was really hoping that I might grow a few inches, but I suppose this is better than nothing."

"That's the spirit girl!" Cana shouted, "Now off with you before the show starts...but first, that will be five jewels"

Levy quickly thanked her and handed the money over before bolting out of the tent to the big top so she could watch the performance.

Cana sat back in the cushions, frowning.

_"There's something interesting about that girl. Might just be her unnatural cuteness."_

She grinned." Yup, must be it" She said to herself before leaving her tent to find more beer.

...

After taking her seat in the almost packed stands of the big top, Levy could not stop worrying about the reading. "_Who the hell could I possibly become romantically attached to at a time like this?!And that's not even the worst part!" _Sure she was happy about the reaching the goal bit but she didn't even know what that goal was, much less the decision she would have to make later.

_"That Cana woman was probably just spouting a bunch of drunken crap or something"_ She grumbled internally.

She suddenly stopped her mild cursing when the big top suddenly filled with instrumental music and the lights slowly dimmed. A spot light was then directed to the centre of the ring where a little old man stood in an orange top hat and suit.

_"He's even shorter than me! Now that's something." _Levy giggled at the thought that for once she could actually make fun of an older person for being shorter than her.

"Welcome everyone, to Fairy Tail Circus! I am Ring Master Makarov, please sit back and enjoy the show while I bring in the acts."

"_Wow, he's pretty loud for someone so tiny." _Levy thought.

Without any hesitation, Makarov brought in the first few acts and levy watched astounded from her seat at the amazing talent in the different performances, and soon she was standing and cheering with the rest of the crowd.

...

It seemed to be too soon when Makarov called out to announce a ten minute intermission to get food and drink.

Levy just stayed in her seat, her feet resting on top of her bag, which was sticking out from under her chair as she tried to remember the acts and the names of the performers before the break.

_"Let's see, first there was someone called Leo? He was a lion tamer. Then there were the strong men, Guildarts and someone called Elfman. A girl on the trapeze called wendy, and her partner, Carla. Oh yea there was that pink haired man who used a fire stick and almost set fire to Makarov by breathing it on him." _She giggled, "_Was his name Natsu? And then there was that blond girl called Lucy with her dog Plue, those were some cool tricks she did."_

Levy frowned; she knew she was forgetting another act that went on before Natsu. "_Who were they again?" _She wrinkled her nose in concentration before suddenly breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"_Those two clowns were so _funny! _What were their names? Jet and Droy? Yup that was it."_

She looked up to see the stands quickly filling up as people returned to their seats. The Second half was starting up again.

"Welcome back everyone! I hope you have had a nice refreshing break, please enjoy the next acts!"

Makarov then proceeded to introduce a hypnotist called Mystogan. During his act he called up volunteers to make them do strange and embarrassing things that they would never have dreamed of doing had they been awake.

After Levy and the rest of the audience had recovered from their laughing fits, an illusionist called Freed performed his act, and afterwards a woman whose stage name was Titania entered the ring. The scarlet haired beauty had the audience screaming in excitement just by looking at them.

Levy watched along with a stunned audience as the red haired, armoured woman threw her swords at volunteers who were standing against a wall, missing them only by inches.

"_Is she really planning on swallowing that?!" _Levy thought as she watched the woman begin to place a serrated, double edged sword into her mouth. She gasped when only the hilt was visible and cheered madly with the crowd as the Titania began to place twelve more swords of the same make into her mouth. Afterwards she smoothly removed the swords before bowing and exiting the ring.

"Thank you everyone, for coming and watching our show! Please enjoy our last performance for tonight, the two Jugglers, Gajeel Redfox and Lily Pantera!"

Levy was surprised to see the audience suddenly break out into a cheering frenzy as the two performers entered the ring. "_They must be really good to get a reaction like this." _Levy thought as she watched the two men, who were both wearing white baggy pants to help with movement and rather tight black singlets. She blushed slightly when she noticed she had made this observation.

Levy watched in awe as they began. The tanned man with the long black hair and his dark skinned partner with the short hair flicked their wrists, flipping the long metal clubs into the air in a series of routines that had her jaw dropping to the floor.

She could see the large grins plastered on their faces as they began to flip and roll whilst also throwing the metal clubs into the air and catching them, sometimes without even looking. "_These guys are incredible! Almost as good as the Titania!" _Levy smiled, knowing that she had made the right choice coming to Fairy Tail Circus.

At the end of their performance the whole audience including Levy stood, cheering the circus on, screaming for encores and signatures of Fiore's best Circus. She could not help but wonder why she could not take her eyes off the man named Gajeel. To her, there was something about him that left her watching him in a curious way. _"Probably the arrogant smirk he has on his face." _She thought.

With a quick shake of her head, Levy decided to wait for most of the people to leave so that she could make it out of the big top without breaking a body part.

...

It had been a couple of minutes after the audience had left, and Levy had asked a ticket vendor attendant named Wakaba for directions to Makarov's office.

"_I hope I get in, I hope I get in" _she chanted as she lugged her heavy bag around the caravans with her.

Looking up, she spotted a caravan with the same decoration as the vendor had described and she ran in nervous excitement to its door.

She took a deep breath before knocking shyly on the door, and waited for a response. _"Well, at least the_ _worst thing he could say is no"_ She thought as the door slowly opened, revealing the little old man, who was still in his orange suit.

"Hello, may I help you?"

Levy suddenly felt very anxious and had trouble getting the next words out of her mouth.

"Hello, I...um, saw the sign about hiring people?"

Makarov smiled at her kindly. "Is that so? Well then, please step into my office."

Levy sighed in relief and stepped into the caravan. She was quite surprised to see that it was indeed an office and not one that someone would live in. "_I thought caravans were for living in."_

Seeing her confused look, Makarov grinned. "My live-in caravan is a little further away, this is just for business." He said as he walked behind a large wooden desk and sat down in his chair.

He let a slightly serious but neutral expression fall on his face. "So tell me, what has made you want to join Fairy Tail?"

Levy, caught off guard by his sudden, upfront question, was left slightly speechless.

"Well... I need a job, and I saw the sign saying that you were recruiting, so I decided to come and see the show and also ask you for employment." "_Great, I sound like a clueless idiot."_ She thought.

"Do you have any particular talent that you could offer to this circus?" He asked bluntly, taking her by surprise again.

"Uh, no, well I am fluent in many different languages and love translating old books, and I love to read...a- and I was born with blue hair! That must count right?" Levy asked hopefully. "And I am very short."

Makarov looked at her sternly. "If you only have talent that rightfully belongs in a library and not very much circus talent at all, then why should I hire you?"

Feeling desperate and hopeless, Levy said the last thing she could think of as tears suddenly began to roll down her cheeks. She needed this...badly.

"Because...because I have nowhere else to go."

The man's face remained a mask of complete seriousness.

"...Very well, you're hired!"

Startled, Levy's head shot up to look at the old man in the chair. He was grinning; a wide, exited yet mischievous smile that made the ends of his grey moustache twitch slightly.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Levy felt her control slip then, and she began to sob in happiness as she remembered the first card in her reading earlier on.

_"The six of wands, that part of the prediction came true after all."_

**Well that's the end of chapter 2, hope its good. Please read and review!will be back soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 is up! Thank you everyone for reading my story so far, since its summer holidays I have been able to update almost every day so far, which is awesome :) Please read and review, and let me know if there are any mistakes. (Sorry for the bad language, but it is Gajeel, blame it all on him!)**

**Fairy Tail and these characters all belong to Hiro Mashima.**

Gajeel carefully stretched and rolled his right shoulder, grimacing in pain when he felt sharp aches jolt up his collar bone and down his right arm.

"You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard you know." Lily said as they both walked back to their caravan.

"Shaddup, I can handle it just fine." Gajeel muttered as he felt another sharp pang make its way along his upper arm.

It was rather obvious that the show had been a success, but he had let the buzz of the moment get to his head, making him temporarily forget his injury. Unfortunately close end of his performance when he and Lily were doing their back flips, he had rolled forward roughly on his injured shoulder, pulling hard at the muscle that was still recovering.

Gajeel remembered the ripping sensation he felt as he had come up from his roll and couldn't help blanching a little at the thought of his muscles tearing.

Lily saw the look and sighed. "We should get Porlyusica or Wendy to take a look."

Being the stubborn idiot he usually was, Gajeel flat out refused by slouching away with no more than a "fuck off" in Lily's direction.

The raven haired juggler heard a sigh from behind him and footsteps heading in the other direction as he walked towards the area where he usually hung out when he needed some alone time to cool off. He appreciated that Lily had given him some space, and knew he wouldn't take his blasphemous insults to heart, taking them as a sign that he just wanted to be alone...well that's what he thought anyway.

Grumbling a string of barely audible profanities, Gajeel sat down in his little space against an oak tree that was growing a few feet away from Makarovs office and stared at the golden and orange leaves that had begun to fall in the early autumn. "_Maybe I could get the little one to take a quick look at it."_He thought, referring to Wendy.

His peace was interrupted by some muffled voices coming from the boss's caravan. "_Thought the geezer would be asleep or at the bar by now."_

Confused, he stood up, careful of his shoulder, and walked over to the office. He knew that snooping and eavesdropping was pretty low for him, but when he was this curious, he couldn't really help it.

Gajeel leaned his left side against the side of the caravan, turning his ear to the door as he tried to make out the slow, muffled voices.

He could recognise Makarovs voice easily, but it was the second one that he could not figure out. Frowning, he pressed his ear to the door and squinted his eyes as he tried to concentrate on the sound.

_"Well there's no doubt about it being a woman." _He thought as he picked out the light tone.

His eyebrows rose slightly when the sounds became clearer as the two started to raise their voices slightly.

He snorted as he caught a couple of words that made sense. "_Employment...languages... and blue hair?!" _He smirked. "_Just another wannabe trying to get into Fairy Tail."_

Satisfied, he began to step away to find Lily when the next few word he heard made him stop.

"...Because I have nowhere else to go..."

Gajeel groaned and slapped the side of his head with his left hand. "_Why am I paying attention to this? So what if another person makes it in?"_

Letting the thoughts about the new recruit drop, he began to saunter away to find Lily.

_It's not like I care, this whole circus is full of runaways and orphans."_

He had walked a couple of metres away when the sound of a door barging open made him whirl around in surprise, where he spotted the ring master jumping out of his caravan, looking much happier than usual.

Gajeel decided to play dumb. "Been hittin' the booze old man?"

Makarov snorted before indicating to the open door behind him.

"I have, in fact just hired a new recruit. Now would you mind telling me what you're doing here? "

He was about to defend himself when he spotted a small figure emerge from the office.

"Mr Makarov Sir? I was wondering where I should put my...oh!"

Gajeel immediately began to erase the word "_cute"_ from his mind when he saw the woman drag a large, heavy looking duffel bag down the steps of the caravan before standing next to the old man.

He couldn't help looking over her just to see what sort of person she was.

"_Tiny"_ was another word that popped into his mind when he saw her small, slender frame. Her shoulder length hair was indeed an interesting shade of sky-kissed blue and she was wearing a yellow bikini top with a blue vest that showed her stomach, while her legs were covered with a pair of white, knee length pants.

The surprised look on her face showed that she obviously had not expected to see anyone else outside the caravan except Makarov.

"Well Gajeel, I would like to introduce our new member, Miss Levy Mcgarden. Levy dear, this is Gjeel Redfox. He is one of our jugglers." Makarov stated.

"tch, I can speak for myself old man." Gajeel grumbled before settling his eyes on the small woman.

He smirked when she stepped forward and held her arm out, "Nice to meet you." She said politely, before smiling a little.

Gajeel just scowled at her outstretched hand as if it was covered in something gross, before looking into her eyes intently, grinning slightly when he saw her flinch at his gaze.

It wasn't like he was being mean on purpose; he just had a hard time trusting people. He liked to test the new recruits, it was just who he was.

And this was no exception.

Ignoring her attempt at being friendly, Gajeel abruptly straightened and began to turn away from the little woman when once again he was stopped by a voice. This time it was one he couldn't really just walk away from.

"Gajeel, would you please escort Miss Levy to Lucy's caravan and show her around? She needs a place to stay."

Makarov had a smile on his face, but there was a certain glint in his eyes that that demanded respect. He knew that he still owed him for what he did, so it seemed that he thought of this as payment also.

Gajeel growled before turning to head in the right direction. "Try to keep up shrimp." He called over his shoulder as he made his way over to Lucy's home.

He smiled evilly when he heard a frustrated little huff from behind him as she hurried forward with her bag and attempted to match his stride.

" Gajeel!"

Said man inclined his head towards the smaller one as he began to walk away. He was wearing an amused, yet slightly mischievous expression which irked him slightly. "Get that arm of yours checked out. And carry her god damned bag!"

"Get lost old man!"

...

He'd had many other things he had planned to do with his evening. Babysitting had not been one of them.

He sighed in frustration as he lugged her bag around, wedged under his left arm while they walked to Lucy's place.

"Oy shrimp, what the hell have you got in here?! Bricks or somethin'?"

"My name is Levy! And it's none of your damned business what I have in my bag."

Gajeel let a large grin spread across his face. She had quite a bit of spunk for such a little thing.

"So, can you actually do anything? Like fit yourself into a tiny box?"He asked. He loved to annoy people.

She glared up at him, clearly getting quite pissed off. "No. But I did gymnastics when I was younger."

"_Why am I not surprised? With that tiny body, she could fit into a keyhole."_ He thought.

"So where is the caravan?" She asked.

Gajeel indicated to a metallic pink caravan a few metres ahead. He grimaced; he and the bunny girl didn't get along that well.

Making his way to the door, he knocked on the small window a few times before stepping back to wait for an answer.

"Hang on a moment!" came a voice from somewhere within the pink monstrosity, followed by the sound of falling objects and muttered cursing.

Gajeel growled impatiently as an awkward silence settled between him and Levy, until finally the door opened to reveal a bubbly, busty blond...wearing nothing but a towel.

She shrieked loudly, as Gajeel was the first thing she saw, and made an attempt to cover more of herself up.

"What the hell, Gajeel?!" She screamed. She had a horrified expression was on her face. "What are you doing here?!"

"You're the one who answered the door in a towel!" Gajeel roared angrily as he quickly averted his eyes. "Put some damned clothes on, idiot woman!"

Levy, standing slightly behind him was now completely speechless as she stared at the woman before her.

Gajeel was surprised when he heard her speak.

"Um...hi. Makarov sent me over here. Something about a place to stay?" She said nervously.

Lucy managed to hear Levy over her own screaming and abruptly stopped to look her over.

She suddenly grinned. "Oh how _cute!_ Come on in."

Gajeel rolled his eyes at the blond's sudden change in behaviour, while Levy just gawked before walking up the stairs, a shy smile on her face.

He watched Levy slowly examine her surroundings. Then the two girls began to talk about random books, reading and living areas with Lucy still in her towel before he began to growl in impatience.

Throwing Levy's bag into the caravan, he stepped in, kicking it out of his way before crossing his arms over his chest, standing over the two of them menacingly. "_I do not have time to listen to this girly shit!"_ He thought angrily.

"Listen bunny girl, short stack needs to be shown around, and for some stupid reason I was chosen to do it. So get a move on so I can leave!" Gajeel said. His patience was wearing thinner and thinner by the second.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him before muttering something to the midget that he couldn't hear. Levy then giggled and looked up at him.

He noticed that her eyes were a chocolate brown, but when she turned them back to Lucy, they looked green in the light.

Gajeel frowned at his weird observation before he looked away and made to stalk out of the caravan.

"Fuck!" he shouted when he felt his forehead and right shoulder collide with the doorframe, after miscalculating his depth perception. It did not help that Lucy had begun to laugh.

"Shut up!" he yelled, holding his throbbing shoulder as he turned to face them, but stopped when he saw Levy looking at him with something else in her large brown eyes.

Was it concern?

_"She is concerned for me?"_ He thought, and began to curse when he felt tips of his ears heat up.

Shaking his head, he abruptly turned away.

"Get a move on!" He yelled before rushing out of the caravan and began to walk towards the big top. He winced slightly at the sharp jolts that were vibrating through his right arm and collar bone.

Feeling a small presence beside him, he looked down at the blue haired dwarf who was staring at him curiously.

"What?" He asked her bluntly, taking her off- guard.

"I was wondering where we were going." She said after looking away quickly. He did not miss the faint blush that had appeared on her cheeks, so it didn't take much for him to guess that she was lying.

Gajeel decided to ignore it. "To the big top," He said and snickered when her expression became confused.

"But...but I thought we were going to look around first? I've seen the big top already." She pouted.

He grinned, showing his large canines. "You wana look around on an empty stomach?"

Her eyes widened, she was even more confused than before.

"Oh?" He said. You don't know? This should be fun to watch." He chuckled darkly before walking on towards the big top, listening to the sound of tiny feet running to catch up with him and his long strides.

...

Gajeel approached the canvas flap on the big top that was used as a door, stopping to turn and look at the shrimp.

He grinned like Satan himself when he saw her eyes widen. "You ready, midget? " He asked.

Levy gulped and nodded slowly, before muttering something about the name he had just called her.

"_She has absolutely no idea what to expect."_ He thought, and he smirked when he tried to imagine her reaction.

"So what exactly are you showing me?" She asked. He could easily hear the desperate curiosity in her voice.

"Let's just say it's not something you would see every day." Gajeel said mysteriously. He was really enjoying this.

And with that, he threw the canvas aside and stepped in, standing off to the side as he waited for Levy to follow.

He smirked when he saw her face. Her eyes were almost popping out of her head and her mouth was wide open as she stared all around the big top in disbelief and excitement at the change that had occurred in the oversized tent in just an hour.

"So shrimp," Gajeel said, unable to wipe the amused smirk off his face. "What do ya think?"

She glared at him. "My name is_Levy_!" she said in frustration. However, it didn't last long.

The look on her face as she said the next words began to make his ears heat up again, and he quickly covered them up, with some difficulty on his right side.

She smiled a wide grin that looked like it could light up a whole room.

"It's...its incredible!"

**Aaand its a cliff hanger! haha sorry, I love the suspense. But don't worry, you shall find out in the next chapter!(Oh and sorry for the language but its Gajeel, and he is a person who swears a lot :P)**

**Hope you enjoyed reading, please review :)**

**cheerio!**


	4. Chapter 4

**And its a big one! jeez i had no idea i would end up writing so much! :Dhehe im enjoying this! **

**Anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**Fairy Tail and all these characters belong to Hiro Mashima.**

Levy followed the tall, dark haired man in front of her as they walked on through the maze of tents and stalls to the Big Top.

"_Damn, I can't believe I forgot about the gymnastics, that surely would have helped my case_..._and how the _hell_ did I end up with this guy anyway?!_ "Levy thought.

She hadn't exactly expected to see him loitering outside Makarovs office. But then again, he also looked like he hadn't expected the little ring master to barge out of his door in overwhelming happiness like a rabbit on steroids. She guessed that he had been up to something, judging by the way he had acted.

Her first impression of him earlier when she saw him in the ring was that he looked like quite a happy, though slightly rugged man. Thinking about him now, she decided that he was a complete ass who had no regard for other people's feelings and lacked any manners whatsoever. She realised this when she was first introduced to him, when he had glared at her, completely ignoring her attempt at being nice.

Next thing she knew, she was following him around while he carried her bag for her to Lucy's _very_ pink caravan. It's fair to say that Lucy had not been what she expected either, answering her door in a skimpy towel and dramatically screaming for help because Gajeel was there. Though after the dramatic episode, she thought the blonde was quite nice, and she found out they both loved to read.

And after dropping, well kicking, her bag into the caravan, her and Gajeel were now walking over to the large tent, with Levy not knowing what the hell was going on.

Levy looked up at him. "_I didn't know he had so many piercings,"_ she thought as she studied his face. She had been sitting further back in the stands during the show and hadn't even noticed. But now that she was up close, she could see that he had three studs above each eye, where his eyebrows should be, three on either side of his nose, two under his lip and four on each ear. "_That's a _lot_ of piercings."_

His hair was black, very long, and had a strange spikiness to it that made him resemble a rather grumpy hedgehog, and his skin had a slight olive tone, though he was also quite tanned.

She looked away before he noticed her staring again, since she had been caught out the first time when she had been trying to count his studs.

"_Of all the places we could be going, it's to the big top. I am so damned confused."_ She thought as she followed him to a flap of canvas hanging down the side of the large tent.

He suddenly turned around to face her. He had a slightly creepy yet excited smile on his face.

"You ready midget?" He asked.

Levy nodded and swallowed. "Enough with the bloody nicknames." She muttered to herself, before she saw him smirk.

"So, what exactly are you showing me?" She asked impatiently.

She watched him grin. "Let's just say it's not something you would see every day." He said, before turning around and pushing past the canvas.

Levy quickly followed him in. She squinted, her eyes adjusting to the light after walking outside during the late evening.

The view she suddenly saw around her when her eyes adjusted made her stop dead and she looked around, lost for words and she gaped at the sight.

"_What?! H-how did this happen?! _She thought as she took everything in.

The inside of the Big Top had completely transformed in just less than an hour.

When Levy had seen it before, it had rows of seats on stands that curved around a red barrier that contained the ring, which had blue gym mats in its base. The sides of the tent had been covered in large purple drapes and there had been a second floor that circled around above the stands. She had assumed that was where all the lighting, effects and instruments were managed. There had also been a small opening in the drapes just off to the side of the ring, where all the performers had entered from.

Looking at it now, it was like that had never existed.

The Drapes had been removed to reveal wooden walls that lined the inside of the rectangular shaped tent. The ground was covered in wooden floor boards, and the stands and the ring were completely gone, as if they had never been there. To the right side of the tent there was, what looked to be, a bar, and a large stage took up the opposite end to where Levy was standing. A flight of wooden stairs could be seen next to the bar, which led up to the second floor. The first floor was also scattered with tables and benches. The whole place was also full of people belonging to Fairy Tail.

Considering the whole big top was roughly the size of a rugby field, it was a pretty spectacular sight.

"_All of this happened in just one hour?!"_ Levy screeched within her mind."_How is this even possible?"_

She turned to Gajeel, who was smirking at her reaction.

"So shrimp, what do ya think?"

Levy tried to glare at him. "My name is _Levy_!" She said, trying to sound frustrated.

She could not keep it up though, with the incredible view around her. So she exchanged it for a wide smile.

"It's...its incredible!" She said, a little too loudly.

All of the faces in the room turned towards her, except for Gajeel. For some reason, he was trying to cover up his ears.

"_Crap that was too loud."_ She thought nervously.

The man beside her suddenly began to step towards everyone else without a care in the world. Having nothing else to do, Levy followed behind him and they both approached the bar, with everyone's eyes on them.

A beautiful woman with long, white hair stood behind the bar and smiled kindly at her, though her eyes were questioning.

Before Levy could say a word, the awkward silence was removed when a familiar voice cut through the air, making everyone turn towards the stage.

"Hello everyone!" It was Makarov, standing on the stage wearing a large grin and a funny looking hat that looked like a pair of stripy stockings.

The whole circus then roared their greetings back to him. Levy looked around, stunned at the affect he had on his members.

"This evening was a great success! Well done."He shouted. Everyone cheered in reply. Gajeel however was leaning against the bar, ignoring the whole thing.

"I would now like to introduce our newest member! Miss Levy Mcgarden!" Makarov yelled with a large smile on his face. He then pointed straight at her, and she shrunk back slightly when she suddenly became everyone's subject of attention.

"Um...Hello?" Levy squeaked. She saw Gajeel roll his eyes out of the corner of her eye and she sighed in frustration.

"_I have to make a good impression!"_

Drawing herself up to her full, unimpressive height, Levy addressed the large crowd of people that had suddenly become very interested in her.

"Hello, I'm Levy Mcgarden. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She said clearly, grinning in satisfaction when she saw Gajeel raise his "eyebrows" slightly.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, before one word passed through the big top.

"CUTE!" They all shouted at once.

Suddenly the whole crowd exploded into action as everyone pressed forward to greet her, most people squishing her to them in a giant hug before giving her proper introductions.

This became quite hazardous when she was pulled into a colossal bear hug between Guildarts and Elfman, leaving her feeling slightly dizzy from the loss of air.

"Introducing oneself like that is manly!" Elfman boomed in her ear, making her brain rattle whilst the other man almost crushed her ribs.

"Oye now! Don't kill the newbie you idiots!" A younger man shouted. He had black spiky hair.

The two large men then let her down and began to apologise.

Levy then shook the dark haired man's hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Grey Fullbuster, you can just call me Grey." He said casually, though he had a smile on his face.

She was about to reply when he suddenly began to remove his shirt.

"_What in God's name_ _is he doing?!" _

She found herself moving to cover her eyes when he began to take off his pants. "Why are you stripping?!" She shrieked as she peeked over her hands at his face, keeping the rest of him out of sight.

She saw his expression become confused and he looked down at himself.

"Shit!"

He looked at her. "Would you please lend me your pants?" He asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Levy only gawked at him and didn't even react when someone kicked him out of the way.

"Stop mentally scarring the new recruit!" shouted a young woman, who she immediately recognised as the Titania. Her bright red hair was hard to misplace.

Levy stared up at the woman, who was at least a head taller than her."Hello." She smiled.

The woman smiled kindly at her and held out her hand, which levy took and they shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, I am Erza Scarlett." The woman said.

Levy noticed she was still wearing her armour. "Lovely to meet you" She said, not wanting to offend the woman in any way. She had noticed that everyone had given her a wide berth, as if she might suddenly start attacking them.

Erza nodded her head, before stepping away to let someone else come and introduce themselves.

She was then approached by a pink haired man and a younger boy with blue hair. They both flashed startlingly large grins at her before the boy glomped her, grabbing her around the waist in a large hug.

The man just laughed and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Hey there! I'm Natsu, and this is Happy! He said loudly.

Levy let out a large grin, finding his smile contagious. "Hi, I'm Levy" She said.

She noticed that most of the bustle and eagerness of the crowd had died down a little, and people had begun to give her some more space.

She turned back to Natsu. "You're the guy who almost set Makarov on fire, right? She asked.

Natsu grinned sheepishly and began to rub the back of his neck, removing his arm form her shoulder. "Yea, but he's a tough old geezer, he can handle anything!" He said proudly.

Happy was still clinging to her waist.

"Oi Happy, you should give her some space." Natsu said, though he was still smiling.

"But she smells nice!" The boy said. He looked to be about thirteen years old. Levy couldn't help smiling down at him.

"Like fish!" He shouted.

"Fish?!" Levy screeched.

She then began to sniff her waist coat for any signs of fish, while Natsu laughed hysterically and began to pull Happy away.

"Happy, to you everything smells like fish!" Scolded a young girl, around the same age as happy, if not a little older.

Her hair was a very pale blonde, and was in a pixi cut with a pink bow in the corner.

Levy noticed that her skin was also very white, and that she was standing next to a younger girl with long, dark blue hair.

"Hello, my name is Carla, and this is Wendy." The girl said. She seemed mature for her age.

"Hello!" Piped up the other girl, whose name was Wendy.

Levy smiled at the two of them. "It's nice to meet you, though I think you know who I am already." She guessed, since she had been tossed around with people shouting her name for twenty minutes already.

Both girls nodded and smiled, while Natsu and happy walked away, talking animatedly about blowing things up.

"Well, you will be meeting plenty of people over the next few days, so you may as well just sit and relax, and they will come to you." Carla said.

_"That actually sounds like quite a logical thing to do."_ Levy thought after waving goodbye to the girls, before taking a seat at the bar.

"Hello there, would you like a drink? You look quite exhausted." It was the white haired woman again.

Levy smiled. "Could I have a lemonade please?"

The woman smiled before pulling out a glass to fill it up. "I'm Mirajane Strauss; you already met my younger brother earlier on."

Levy thought back to the one that almost killed her, along with Guildarts."Oh yes, Elfman wasn't it?"

Mira nodded. "He can be quite overly enthusiastic sometimes."

"_You have no idea." _Thought Levy as she began to drink her lemonade.

Mira then moved onto another member. It was quite busy at the bar with everyone ordering food and drink.

The sudden rumbling noise was so loud levy was sure she had felt the floor shake. "_What was that?!"_

She looked around to find the source of the shaking when she realized that half the room had its eyes on her.

"_Oh my god...was that me?!"_

Levy gulped and looked at her stomach when another deep growling sound erupted from said area.

She felt her cheeks heat up and she quickly moved her arms to cover her torso, in an attempt to muffle the sound of her stomach gurgling.

"Gihi"

Levy turned her head towards the weird sound, coming from the other end of the bar. "_Oh great, he is the _last_ person I wanted to see."_ She thought, before laying her forehead against the table, hoping he would just leave her alone.

"Remember what I said about an empty stomach shrimp?"

Levy groaned and turned her head away from Gajeel, who was now sporting an annoying smirk.

"Go away." She muttered into her arm, which was now lying on the counter top.

He was now standing beside her, his tall frame towering over her smaller one.

"The hells the matter with you? Just order something." He grumbled.

"But Mira is busy with other people! I don't want to put pressure on her." Levy said.

Gajeel just growled and sat down beside her."Oi, you know she's been doin' this for ages, she will get angry at you if she thinks you doubt her." He said gruffly.

Levy looked up at the woman, who was now expertly plating up dishes and delivering drinks with ease.

She sighed_." She does look like she could handle much more than she is doing already." _

"Okay, I will just wait for her to come this way."

"Just hurry it up, would ya?" Gajeel said impatiently.

Levy looked up at him curiously. "What's Mira like when she's angry?"She asked.

She gaped at Gajeel when he suddenly turned as white as a sheet and started sweating."Ya don't wana know." He muttered. His deep red irises shrinking as his eyes widened.

She was about to ask what happened to turn him into a trembling sissy when the sound of the chair moving on her other side had her head turning to the left.

"Well hello there, I don't believe we have ever met before." The voice had come from a tall, dark skinned man with short black hair and a scar in the corner of his left eye.

"Hello, I'm Levy Mcgarden, I have just been recruited." She said before smiling at the stranger.

He smiled at her, his rather sharp teeth gleaming."I'm Lily Pantera, I'm this idiots juggling partner."

"Speak for yourself, smart-ass."

Levy just smiled at him. He seemed to have a nice personality. "I saw you both performing today, it was amazing. Don't know how you did it, but it was great!"

"Thank you." He was grinning broadly, though his expression changed slightly when he turned to look at Gajeel. "Seen to that arm yet?"

_"His arm? Is he injured?"_Levy thought.

Gajeel just huffed and stood up. Levy looked at him closely. Now that she knew that something was up, she realised that he was slightly favouring his right shoulder, and as he walked away she could see that he was trying to keep it as far away from anything or anyone as possible.

Levy couldn't stop the next words from slipping out of her mouth. "What happened to him? He seemed completely fine in the ring."

Lily sighed." He has been injured since Thursday; stupid ass was too stubborn to get it checked out when he first got it. Though most of us have our own ones as well."

She looked up at him, realising for the first time that Lily also had a couple of shallow gashes on his arm and neck.

"What happened to you guys?" She asked before turning back to look at Gajeel, who was now talking to Wendy.

Lily grimaced. "We had a clash with a company that tried to take over Fairy Tail. They took us by surprise, but we still forced them back and kicked them out. The guy I was fighting had a knife; he managed to get me with it a few times, but in the end I punched his lights out."He grinned. "Mr grumpy guts over there got a big guy, almost twice his size but he still managed to take him on. He pulled the muscles in that shoulder of his when he threw all of his strength into breaking his jaw bone.

Levy frowned "Shouldn't it have healed by now though?"

He shook his head. "Reckless fool did something to it during tonight's performance. It should be ok though, Wendy is very good at the whole medical thing." He indicated towards the little girl and Levy turned to see her examining his shoulder, pressing at the different muscles to see which ones were damaged.

She noticed that he winced almost every time she touched his arm_. "Must have been pretty bad."_

She couldn't help staring at his arms, noticing the muscles rippling under his skin. "_Of course one would get pretty fit from the type of work that he does, but damn…he's gotta be proud of those." _She thought, as she watched him flex slightly when he tensed up from the pain.

Levy quickly pulled her eyes away when she saw Mirajane pass by her, and she frantically spoke to her about anything that could stop the gurgling aches in her stomach.

….

Levy stared at the empty plate before her. She had been so hungry that she had devoured the whole thing in a couple of minutes. It was quite the feat for her and her tiny body.

She suddenly felt an arm wrap itself over her shoulder. _"Now that's a familiar smell."_ She thought.

"Hey chicky, didn't expect to see you here." Cana said.

"Hello Cana." Levy smiled. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail now." She said proudly.

The woman blinked in surprise. "Are ya now? Well I didn't see that comin', that's for sure."

Levy looked at the brunette. She was out of all of that gypsy gear and was now wearing nothing but a sports bra and knee length denim shorts.

"So, ya met everyone then?" She asked.

Levy shook her head and went through a list of people she had already met, hoping Cana could fill in the blanks.

The woman looked upwards thoughtfully and began ticking names off her fingers.

"Well, you still have to go through about a quarter of the circus, I can try to fill it in, but at the moment I can only think of Freed, Bixlow, Evergreen, Juvia, Jet, Droy, Loki, Mystogan, Max, Bisca and Alzack.

Levy whistled. "Wow that's quite a few people."

Cana grinned. "Oh, and there's Laxus." She said.

Levy frowned. "What's so special about him?"

The grin on Cana's face made her start to squirm a little.

"He's my boyfriend."

"Oh, really? Levy asked, very curious. "Can I meet him?"

Cana smiled. "Sure can."

The woman pointed to a spot behind her and Levy turned to see a tall man with short blonde hair leaning on the second floor railing. From what she could see, he was _very_ muscular and had a lightning shaped scar over his right eye that ended halfway down his cheek. Though even with the scar she could tell he was handsome.

Levy raised an eyebrow at Cana. "I think he's looking at you."

The woman smirked. "Likes what he sees I bet."

The man, realizing Cana had noticed him, grinned and proceeded to descend the stairs to where they were sitting.

Levy, seeing this, stood up to greet him. Though when he was finally at ground level and standing in front her, she only reached the middle of his torso. _"This guy is _enormous!" She gaped. "_Or I'm just tiny."_

However intimidating he seemed, he still held out his hand, and she took it shyly.

"Hello…Um I'm Levy." She managed.

The man gave her a small quirk of his lips. "Laxus Dreyar." He said before releasing her hand.

Levy was about to reply when a flying chair collided with the side of his head, leaving him sprawling on the ground.

"L-Laxus?!" Levy shrieked before hurling herself to the ground to avoid the missiles of tables and chairs that were now flying in every direction.

She was about to run for it when the sight before her made her stop and all she could do was stare at the large bar brawl that had broken out in the middle of the big top. And right in the middle of it were Gajeel, Natsu and Grey.

_"What is wrong with these people?! _She thought.

A large roar from beside her made her whirl around to see Laxus charging in to the ruckus like an angry boar before throwing himself at Elfman.

"Roaring is manly!" Elfman shouted before falling to the ground after a punch from Laxus.

Grey and Natsu were absolutely going at each other, the pink haired man kicking Grey in the chest after managing to pull off his pants, sending him hurtling into Guildarts, who also landed on the floor, squishing Happy underneath him leaving the poor boy squealing.

Levy quickly vaulted over the bar; landing in a crouch before she leaned against the shelves to hide from the almighty punch up that was happening on the other side. She looked around to see that Mira, Carla, Wendy and Lucy were all also crouching behind the counter.

Lucy smiled and waved. "It's totally fine, this happens all the time." She said.

Levy peeked over the counter to see an angry Cana throw a barrel of beer at Gajeel, who was almost immediately knocked over, crashing into Lily on his way down.

Levy sighed. "_What the hell have I gotten myself into?!_ She thought when she saw Makarov jumping into the fight to try and stop them by whacking them all over their heads with his cane, screaming like a mad man.

**whiew! hehe hope you guyl liked it! will updat soon! seeya:)**

**cheerio! **


	5. Chapter 5

**And its another long one! haha lol i should be in bedXD anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think!**

Gajeel slid his eyes open slightly, and groaned when he felt his head throbbing. "The fuck happened?" he muttered when he saw that he was lying in a broken table that was split down the middle.

_"__Mustv' happened when the elf dude fell on me." _He thought, recalling the giant mass of Elfman crushing him as he tried to sit up. He winced when he felt a slight pang in his shoulder.

He glanced around at the smaller section in the centre of the big top that he was lying in. It looked like a war zone, with half of the circus members lying under or over broken tables and chairs.

He winced slightly as he stood up, and cursed when he stumbled over the stripper, who was lying completely bare ass nude. Gajeel was thankful that he was lying on his front, his lower body under a table.

He grinned when he saw the pink haired idiot, his body hanging over the edge of the stairs. He had a large bruise on his forehead, along with a pair of boxers. "_Well, at least I got to beat up those two."_ He thought.

"Now…where has the little blue shrimp run off to?" He muttered to himself as he slouched past Laxus, who had Cana sitting on his lap, pushing an ice pack against his forehead.

He stopped when he heard a string of curses coming from behind a pile of benches to his left. Frowning, he walked over to investigate.

"What the hell are you doing?" He said when he found Lily, pushing and shoving at a drooling Guildarts, his large frame sprawled on the ground.

Lily gave him a "help me or I will kick your ass" look before grabbing the ginger's arm, in an attempt to drag him away.

"I'm trying to get Happy out from underneath this blockhead. He can't breathe and is starting to turn blue, so gimme a hand would ya?" He grumbled.

"Shit" Gajeel muttered and quickly began to haul Guildarts off the boy, who was beginning to pass out.

Both jugglers grabbed the man from each end and managed to roll him over, leaving enough space for Happy to squirm out from under him.

"You ok kid?" Asked Lily, who was now sitting on a broken chair, trying to catch his breath.

The boy just whimpered and crawled over to Salamander for some comfort…and some fish.

Gajeel looked at Lily. "Ya seen the shrimp? The old man told me to show her around."

Lily raised his eyebrow. "And the shrimp is who, exactly?"

He sighed impatiently. "Little blue haired dwarf that joined…yesterday?" He said, rubbing his head as he tried to think of what time it was.

Lily threw his arm over his shoulder, pointing his thumb towards the bar. Gajeel followed the direction of the other man's thumb with his eyes and was able to make out a bit of blue sticking up over the counter.

After raising his hand towards Lily, Gajeel headed in the direction of the bar to look for the midget.

As he got closer, he noticed that she was sitting up behind the bar, leaning against the draws with her head lolling forward. _"Great."_ He thought sarcastically before jumping over the counter top, landing next to her so he could wake her up.

He crouched in front of her, and frowned when the sound of his boots landing on the floor didn't wake her. Her blue hair was falling over her eyes and he flicked her forehead roughly _"Still nothing."_ He thought. He was getting slightly irritated now.

He began to brush her hair away from her eyes. "Oye, midget, wake u-"

He stopped talking when he saw her face. She was crying in her sleep, and muttering things he couldn't understand.

Gajeel let his left hand drop to her arm. _"What's up with her?" _He thought as he put his other hand on her left shoulder, steadying her when she started to slide down against the draws.

The scraping of a chair further away had him snapping back to attention. Remembering the reason why he came searching for her, he began to roughly shake her shoulders, letting a smirk slide onto his face when she slowly lifted her head in drowsy confusion.

He grinned even wider when he saw her eyes boggle at him, a small blush forming on her cheeks. He then realised how close he was to her and quickly stepped back to stand over her, ignoring the slight heat building up in his ears. "C'mon shrimp, the old man told me to take ya to look around. That didn't end up happening last night, so may as well do it now so I can get it over and done with." He found himself saying, in his usual gruff tone

He watched her blink slightly, as if she was trying to figure out where she was, before he saw her peek over the bar.

Gajeel grinned again when he saw her mouth drop open at the sight of the inside of the big top…or what was left of it anyway, after the large brawl that had occurred a few hours before.

"What happened?!"

She looked like she was taking it all in. He noticed that she was purposely avoiding the area where Fullbuster was lying around in nothing but his birthday suit.

He shrugged. "People got a bit drunk and over excited after you arrived, so we had a fight…think of it as an annual celebration." He said, though Gajeel had just wanted the opportunity to kick the crap out of Salamander after the hair comment from yesterday.

He saw her frown. "So how long has everyone been like this?" She said as she began to slowly stand up.

"How the hell should I know? I just woke up." He said as he began to rub his head, which was still throbbing. His arm was doing better though.

"_Thanks to the squirt."_ He thought.

Gajeel looked down to see Levy watching him expectantly, so he quickly turned away and began to walk around the bar; not bothering to watch out for people slumped over objects in their many strange positions. If they were in his way, he just trod on them.

He looked back as he made his way towards the exit, seeing Levy daintily hopping over every person that lay in front of her, apologising when she accidentally stood on someone.

"_This shit is taking too long." _Gajeel muttered to himself.

He quickly turned back to the shrimp, taking her by surprise when he grabbed her by the back of her waist coat and lifted her into the air. He grinned when she squeaked and began to shake her legs in an attempt to wriggle out of his grasp. "Let me go!" She shouted.

"Gihi" He chuckled.

She turned to look at him, a grin sliding into place before she kicked him in the thigh as she tried to make him drop her.

Gajeel had barely felt a thing. He narrowed his eyes at her and pulled her towards him. He grinned evilly when she flinched and flushed a little when he put his face close to hers.

"Quit yer tantrums shrimp." He growled at her.

She shrunk back slightly and crossed her arms with a huff, but stayed quiet. He held her out in front of him as he stomped the rest of the way out of the big top, still stepping on any unconscious members if they lay in his path.

"_She barely weighs a thing!"_ He thought as he finally hauled her outside, before dropping her on her arse. Gajeel chuckled when she stood up to brush the dirt off her butt.

"I am not something that can just be thrown around, Mr Scrap metal!" She yelled, before stalking off towards Lucy's caravan.

"_She really is a little spitfire."_ He thought and began to follow her, easily catching up because of his longer legs.

"So were ya going?"

She glared at him. "I need a shower, so I'm going back to the caravan."

Gajeel just snickered. "I'll just wait for you to finish then."

"I don't care what you do…As long as you don't come in."

He stared at her. "What the hell do ya think I am?! I'm not some pervert!"

Levy grinned at him. "Well, you never know…I only just met you yesterday."

"_Why, you little!"_ He thought before reaching down to grab her jacket again.

She shrieked and ducked, dodging him before running forward towards the pink caravan. The shrimp managed to evade him as he chased after her, running and ducking as he repeatedly bent down to seize her waist coat, missing every time.

He lost his chance when she threw open the pink door of the caravan and bolted inside, slamming the door behind her.

He heard her muffled voice from inside the large caravan. "If you even _try_ to come in, I will tell Erza and Mira."

Gajeel growled and leaned against the caravan. _"What the hell was that all about?!"_ He thought in disbelief.

He had decided to grouch to pass the time while he waited for the midget to finish her shower, when he spotted a flash of red hair, striding in his direction.

_"__God, why is she so happy?"_ He thought, frowning.

"Didn't see you at the brawl yesterday"

She turned slightly, startled that she hadn't seen him.

_"__Her usual guard is down"_

The Titania quickly composed herself. "I had business to attend to." She said sternly, before walking off.

Gajeel was about to say something else when he spotted another figure stalking around the caravans. When he realised who it was, he raised an "eyebrow".

"_What's Mystogan doing, sneaking around?"_ He thought. He was surprised that the recluse hadn't noticed him, Even though he looked rather out of place leaning against a bright pink caravan.

Gajeel watched Mystogan closely, and then turned to look back at Erza, before realisation dawned on him.

"_Oh? Well, now _that's_ an interesting piece of info."_ He chuckled; knowing _exactly_ what sort of "business" it was that Erza had been attending to.

He grinned at his new found piece of information before sitting against the caravan's tyre as he tried to get some extra sleep.

….

Gajeel grumbled a string of complaints as the midget pulled him around the circus by his arm. For the last half an hour, she had made him take her to every single stall to meet every single person. This experience was beginning to make him as grumpy as hell. And right now, he didn't care who it was that was going to become the focus of his wrath in the next few minutes.

Levy was currently talking to Juvia at her water dunking stall, trying to convince her that she was not a love rival when two familiar guys came to introduce themselves, and he smirked when he saw the look in their eyes.

"_They straight up fancy her, and she doesn't even know it."_ He thought, seeing her shake Jet and Droy's hands, completely oblivious to the looks they were giving her.

They finally noticed Gajeel was standing with her and they both frowned a little.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Jet asked slightly irritated, while Droy just glared.

_"__This is gonna be good."_ He thought before throwing his arm around the midgets shoulder, much to her displeasure.

"I'm showing her around, what's it look like?" he said.

He let an evil grin spread across his face when he saw the two men stare in disbelief. He just loved pissing off these guys.

Jet scoffed. "We could have done that!" At the same time Droy said "Why not us?"

"Because you two are incompetent idiots, and weren't around at the time." Gajeel said bluntly, giving them a piercing glare of his own. Looking at their faces, it was obvious to anyone that they both disliked Gajeel.

He sighed, wondering why they were still around, and then remembered that they were interested in Levy. He then removed his arm from the shrimps shoulder and decided to imagine himself far away from here in his happy place, in an attempt to tone out their annoying voices with his own thoughts, hoping they would just go away before he attacked them.

He then felt something prod his chest. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Jet said angrily.

Gajeel glared at the finger that was being shoved at him, before looking dangerously at the orange haired clown. If there was one thing he despised, it was being prodded in the chest. Especially if it was _this _guy_. "That's it ya little piece of shit!"_

Seeing the dangerous look in his eyes, Juvia, who knew him better than most, quickly ushered Levy behind the water tank. "Juvia thinks it would be best if we leave him alone for the moment." He heard her say to the shrimp, who nodded quickly before shooting an apologetic glance at Jet and Droy, who were now backing away a little from Gajeel and his dangerous, black aura.

He growled and towered over them menacingly before he roughly grabbed Jet by the front of his shirt, lifting him into the air and close to his face.

Gajeel heard himself hiss angrily. "If you touch me like that again, even Makarov will not be able to save your wimpy ass." He turned the full force of his glowing red orbs at Jet, who now looked like he wanted to crawl and hide under a rock for the next few years.

Gajeel then thrust him away and turned to glare at Droy, who had his hands held up as he backed away, letting him know that he got the message.

He looked around him, realising that his little spaz out had earned him a bit of an audience. Salamander was there, but said nothing as he knew not to mess with Gajeel when he was like this, knowing this was nothing like the bar brawls, where he would just fool around.

Fullbuster was there too, thinking exactly the same thing, along with half of the circus.

The silence was ruined when a deep voice shouted "Expressing your feelings makes you a man!"

Gajeel growled again. Of course, it just had to be Elfman saying things like that at a time like this.

He decided to take advantage of the fact that everyone had turned around to tell the white haired idiot to "SHUT UP" by escaping as fast as he could, pushing his way past Freed and dodging around the next few stalls as he once again made his way to his personal space area.

He sighed. "_I really shouldn't have lost it like that."_ He thought. "_Though…he deserved it."_

He suddenly felt something touch his arm, and he whirled around to tell whoever it was to piss off, when he stopped, seeing no one. Confused, he looked down to see the shrimp.

"What are you doing here, dwarf?"

She sighed at him. "I was worried about you, I didn't want you to go off and do something stupid. Not that I thought you would, but just in case."

Her brown eyes were so large and innocent, he found himself having to look away. "God damn it" He muttered. "Why do you care? I'm someone ya just met remember?"

Levy stared at him, her gaze turning hard. "That doesn't mean I don't care." She sighed. "Jet is fine, by the way. He seems to have had worse."

Gajeel snorted and the words slipped out before he could stop them. "Smart-ass had it coming. That dude never liked me."

She looked at him questioningly. Cursing, he turned away before she could say anything.

"Where are we going?" He heard her ask.

"You mean where am **I** going. You can go somewhere else." He said, turning to face her before waving her off.

She looked slightly hurt. "But apart from Lucy, you're the only person I properly know! Please just let me tag along."

_"__This damned woman is starting to turn me into a pansy!"_ Gajeel grimaced.

He stared at her hard, and crossed his arms over his chest in a slightly defensive stance. _"Don't show weakness."_ He thought as he purposely avoided looking into her eyes. "_Just say no!"_ But he found that he could not say it…especially when she was looking at him like _that._

He let himself growl out a "fine" before turning around to stalk off to meet Lily. He had almost forgotten that it was time to practice.

He heard the patter of her small feet as she followed him out towards the field that he and his juggling partner usually practiced in.

As Gajeel led Levy through the tall grass, He spotted the figure of Lily, sitting in the large circle of downtrodden grass with their clubs lying on the ground. The flattened plants were an obvious sign that they practiced regularly.

Seeing them approach, Lily stood up to greet them. "Hello Levy, Gajeel. How has your morning been?" He asked.

"Absolute shit" Gajeel growled out while Levy smiled and said "Lovely."

Gajeel then proceeded to pick up some of the clubs, not missing the concerned look Lily and the shrimp exchanged.

Ignoring it, he turned back to Levy. "Oy, shrimp." She turned to look at him, before glaring once again at the nickname he used.

"Ya need to stay a fair way off, or you will be heading back to the big top with metal sticki'n out of you're head." He grinned at the expression on her face after his graphic description.

He watched as she took a few steps back and he sighed in frustration, dropping his clubs before walking over to her. The shrimp's face took on a look of surprise when he stood in front of her, before abruptly grabbing her shoulders. He then turned her around and made her walk a few metres away with his hands still on her upper arms.

After a bit of walking, he stopped and released her. "Stay in this spot, its not too close or to far away."

She nodded, and he chuckled when he noticed that her head only just cleared the tall grass. Shaking his head, he turned and strode back towards Lily.

He noticed that his friend was sporting a knowing smirk, with one eyebrow raised.

Gajeel glared at him. "What?"

He just grinned and began to pick up his clubs. The long haired man glared at him suspiciously, before doing the same.

"Ok, let's do this" Lily said, earning a grin from Gajeel before they got into position.

Both men started at the same time, first flipping their right club into the air towards each other, before catching them.

They continued like this for a few minutes, just warming up, changing hands after every couple of throws. Then they gradually started to speed up, flicking the clubs into the air so fast that they became silver blurs. Gajeel grinned when he heard the shrimp gasp in awe at their routines.

After a little while, Gajeel and Lily made eye contact before exchanging a small nod. Gajeel then began to get lost in the feeling of the world spinning, while he and Lily back flipped and rolled. They knew the routine so well that they could easily predict the directions of the clubs, catching and throwing them, without even needing to look.

Finally, they ended with one large back flip as they simultaneously threw their clubs into the air, before landing and catching the metal objects at the same time.

Slightly out of breath, both men sat down, feeling the energy and excitement begin to drain away as they relaxed on the ground.

Gajeel had almost forgotten that he had a mini audience watching, until a very happy and excited blue haired woman ran towards them. He almost had to shade his eyes against her dazzling grin.

"_Jeez, can her smile get any damned brighter?!" _Gajeel thought. He realised he was staring at her and quickly looked away, the corner of his lip turning up when he saw that she didn't notice. However, unfortunately for him, Lily did.

"That was so amazing! How do you do it?! I mean, those flips looked so hard." She was smiling and talking frantically, until Gajeel rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm to pull her down beside him and Lily.

"Just a lot of practice." Lily said.

"_She's gonna have fun doing something like this."_ He thought to himself.

A sudden thought then occurred to Gajeel and he sat up, frowning to look at the shrimp." So what are you actually going to do here?" He asked.

Her face scrunched up as she thought about his question. "I actually don't know. I will have to talk to Makarov about it." She said, before her face lit up again.

"But I am loving Fairy Tail so far!" She beamed.

Gajeel suddenly snorted. "Ya wont be thinkin' that when you have to get your tattoo." He said without thinking.

Realising what he had just said, he slapped his hand to his mouth and his eyes widened.

"Shit!"

Lily shot him a disapproving glare. "Gajeel, you clueless idiot!" He shouted, whilst Levy just gawked at him.

"Gihihi"

**Hahaha, oh Gajeel you complete idiot XD lol. Hope you guys enjoyed it, thanks for reading!**

**Cheerio! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello there everyone! Chapter 6 is up, and to be honest im quite pleased with it :D Please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**All characters and fairy tail belong to Hiro Mashima.**

She didn't know how long she had been staring at the man before her, who was currently having a shouting match with Lily. It could have been hours for all she knew, but right now she was too caught up in her own problems to give a damn.

"_A tattoo?! A god damn freaki'n __**tattoo**__?! He has got to be joking right? There's no __**way**__ they would make me get one...right?...shit..."_

These thoughts had run dizzying circles around her mind for who knows how long.

"_Would it hurt...? GYAAAH OF COURSE IT WOULD HURT, YOU IDIOT!"_ She screamed at herself internally.

She was too wrapped up in the situation to notice that Gajeel was now waving his hand in front of her face in an attempt to bring her back to the world of sanity.

"Shrimp...oye, _shrimp!_" He said and began to shake her shoulders.

Levy turned her eyes towards him, still slightly dazed from his previous and seemingly thoughtless remark.

She watched as he leaned forward and began to snap his fingers quite close to her eyes. Lily sighed in relief when she shook her head as she returned to the real world.

"I wouldn't get too relieved just yet Lil." Gajeel muttered.

He quickly butt-shuffled away from her. "This may be the calm before the storm."

Right on cue, Levy suddenly felt uncontrollable panic well up inside her and she stood up so fast that she sent Lily reeling back in surprise.

"A _TATTOO!? _You aren't serious, are you?! I can't believe this, you can't make me! I don't want to look like some back alley hooligan drug dealer!" Levy found herself shouting.

She began to pace around the circle of flattened grass, muttering curses that made Lily give her worried glances while Gajeel stood up to try and calm her down.

"Midget! Wait up, will ya?!" He shouted, growling every time she paced before him, but she was too concerned about her own matters to listen. He snarled when he realised that he was being ignored.

"KYAAAH!" Levy screeched when she felt her feet lift away from the earth as the strong man behind her hefted her up for the second time that day. "Put me down!"

He only growled in response before speaking. "Ya need to chill out shrimp, everyone gets one when they enter Fairy Tail. Besides, it doesn't even hurt...well, not much anyway."

"_Seriously? __**Everyone **__gets one?!" _She thought before turning her head to Lily for confirmation.

The man saw her questioning look and nodded. "Yup, every single member here has one. New members get theirs a day after they arrive, it's a sign that you intend to stay loyal. It really isn't that bad at all." His calm and logical reasoning soothed her slightly. The same couldn't really be said for Gajeel, who was still holding her in the air with his arm extended. His glare of annoyance wasn't helping either.

She frowned at him. "Can you put me down now? I am not some tool for weight lifting you know." She said in frustration.

He gave her a look that she couldn't read, before roughly dropping her. Luckily she managed to land on her feet. Her butt had been a little bruised from the last time.

"But a tattoo, really? I mean, I get the whole loyalty thing, but isn't that just going a bit too far?" She asked.

Gajeel shrugged, and Lily sighed at his partner's lack of knowledge. "Apparently it's been a tradition for years. The first ring master Mavis who founded the circus ages ago did it, so it's been carried on ever since."

Levy sighed. She was hardly one to go against tradition, especially if it meant something like loyalty. A sudden thought occurred to her and she frowned.

"So...everyone in the circus has one?" Her question was met by the brisk nods of both men. "Even Wendy, Happy and Carla?" They nodded again.

"Is that even legal?" She asked.

Gajeel furrowed his studs as he thought, and Lily did the same with his eyebrows.

Gajeel spoke first. "Ya know, I don't actually think it is. Dont ya have to be at least seventeen to get one here?"

Lily nodded. "You might be right about that. Though, they can cover them up if they need to. Usually people think they are temporary, like the ones sold in the souvenir stall."

Levy let out a breath of air. "_How did they not even think of that?!"_ She thought in exasperation.

"So, what did Wendy say when she got her one?" She asked.

Gajeel grinned. "Squirt said she didn't even feel a thing. So if she could stand it, so can you."

Levy didn't quite agree with the man's logic, but she nodded anyway.

"So I guess that means I will be getting it sometime this afternoon." She said nervously. Gajeel nodded "Yea, most likely."

Lily looked up abruptly, as if he had just remembered something. "Oh and there's supposed to be this story that the colour of your tattoo depends on your personality."

Levy smiled. "_That does sound pretty cool." _"So do you choose your colour?" She asked.

Gajeel let out a smug smirk. "Nope! It changes on each person. Mine is black, so I'm strong!" He roared the last sentence proudly, and glanced down at the mark on his shoulder.

She quirked an eyebrow. "So how does it change?"

Lily shrugged "No one knows except Reedus, it's his ink. He is the circus' resident artist."

"Really? I haven't met him yet." Levy said.

Gajeel shrugged and began to pick up his clubs. "Ya wanted to see the old man right? Let's go so I can go home. I need a shower." He then grumbled something about smelling like beer.

Levy nodded and followed after waving goodbye to Lily, keeping the other jugglers head and broad shoulders in view as they entered the tall grass.

...

Levy stood outside Makarovs office again, fidgeting nervously as she tried to pluck up the courage to knock. Gajeel had walked with her here a few minutes ago before slouching off to his caravan, leaving her at the caravan to deal with her job alone.

She sighed. "_Well, at least he knows something about personal hygiene."_

Though to be honest, in those moments when he got rather close, she hadn't smelt any alcohol on him. She blushed a little and shrugged before finally knocking on the door, deciding that to keep the master waiting would be quite a stupid thing to do and a total waste of his time.

The door almost immediately opened to reveal the little old man, who gave her a large grin. "Levy dear! Please come on in." He said before walking to his desk, with the small blue haired woman following behind.

"Now, you have come so that we can discuss your job, yes?" Levy nodded and sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk.

"Well, I just got here, so I don't really want to start with something hard. Maybe something like assisting in a stall of some sort?" The master nodded, seeming to agree with her. "Yes I was thinking the same thing. Well, we do have a few stalls that need an assistant, you can choose from Grey, who sells chilled food and drink and Bixlow, who has a voodoo stall. Oh and Evergreen, who manages the trinket tent."

Makarov frowned. "Mirajane is also looking for someone else to help at the bar."

Levy quickly jumped at the chance to work with Mira, since she didn't really know Bixlow or Evergreen and she didn't like the idea of Grey stripping every couple of minutes.

"I would love to work with Mira, if that's ok?" She said with a smile.

Makarov grinned at her. "Okay then! I'm sure she will be glad to work with you."

Levy grinned, before she remembered something she had thought of earlier. "Master, would you happen to know anywhere close to Fairy Tail where I could get some books? Like a library maybe?"

The old man smiled at her. "Actually, yes I do, if you would like to follow me? It's very close."

She nodded her head and trailed after him as he left his office and made his way around the caravans, knowing the routes like the back of his hand.

Confused would probably be quite an understatement to what she felt when they stood before a large caravan. "_It actually looks like a small house."_ Levy thought.

Makarov then proceeded to open the door and step inside, with Levy following his lead.

What she saw next almost made her faint in overwhelming delight and excitement_._"Holy mother of **God**!" She exclaimed loudly, earning herself some curious stares from outside the caravan.

The whole room of the caravan was filled to the brim with books of all types, shapes and sizes, stacked neatly on book cases that lined the walls, with a couple in the centre of the room.

Levy's eyes were beginning to bulge out of her sockets, completely oblivious to Makarov, who was slowly stepping away from her with a nervous sweat breaking out on his forehead at her reaction.

"Ah...Levy, are you quite alright?" He asked.

"Mmm? Oh, yes I'm absolutely fine!" She grinned. "I just never knew you had a caravan like this! If I had, I would probably have decided to sleep here instead."

Makarov gave her an "are you bat-shit crazy?" look before noticing a green haired illusionist that was occupying the desk in the corner.

"Ah hello Freed, how has your shift been?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation so that he didn't need to stand awkwardly next to a creepy Levy.

The man looked at them and smiled slightly. "Just the usual, not too busy. So I have just been around here reading for the last few hours."

"I see. Well that might change."Makarov said while indicating to Levy, who hadn't paid any attention to them at all.

_"I wonder how long it would take me to read all of these." _She thought, completely oblivious to the two men in the room. Her trance was broken suddenly when she felt the ring master prod her arm.

"Levy, this is Freed Justine. Freed this is the new recruit, Levy Mcgarden." He said.

Realising that she had been completely spacing out, Levy flushed and walked over to Freed to shake his hand. "A pleasure to meet you" She smiled. Freed smiled in return and shook her hand. "The pleasure is mine." He said politely.

"You have quite an interest in books then?" He asked. Makarov face palmed at Freed's blunt declaration of the glaringly obvious.

"No shit" He mumbled under his breath.

Not noticing this, Levy smiled. "Yes! I have always loved reading. Actually, my travel bag is full of them!" The ring master gaped at the little woman when he remembered the large duffel bag that she had been carrying around with her the day before. "What about clothes and personal items?" He asked curiously.

She smiled sheepishly. "I...er, well only a quarter of my bag is filled with things like that."

Makarov gave her another one of his looks before sighing, wondering why he couldn't hire any normal people.

"So" Freed said "Are there any particular ones you like?"

The small woman beamed "Old tomes that I can translate, horror and romance novels...If I see anything on a page, I will definitely read it.

The green haired man stared. He had never met anyone with the same passion for reading as he did and he was quite excited to actually talk about it with someone. Usually when he tried to talk to people about it, they either flat out ignored him or found some excuse to leave.

Levy grinned. _I can't believe there is someone as crazy about reading as me!"_ She smiled when they began to have a full on chat about ancient languages.

"Have you ever translated..."

"Oh, yes I did, it was rather hard though..."

"I agree, the sentence structures were strange..."

"Mm yes, as well as the spelling..."

"What runes did you use to reference..."

"Okay! I think we should save this for later, don't you think?" Said Makarov, who was rather eager to leave and get Levy sorted out.

Levy then heard a slight gasp and looked up at Freed, who had placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Master, what if me and Levy took shifts? We both have other jobs to do, so it would make it easier for each of us."

Levy gaped at him. "_This guy is a genius!"_ she thought before turning to the ring master. "I agree with Freed here, it would definitely put less strain on our other jobs if we each took shifts." She said confidently.

Makarov thought about it for a moment. "That does sound quite reasonable. A very good idea indeed." He smiled. "Anyway, Levy we must get everything else sorted, we will see you later Freed." He said before promptly exiting the caravan.

Levy quickly said goodbye to Freed before running to catch up with the old man. "_Jeez, he may be old and small but he sure is fast." _She thought as she jogged after him.

When she saw where they were heading, she grinned. "_I can't wait to start working with Mira! I was never really that great at show business so this should be great!"_ She thought, completely missing a certain grumpy metal juggler who had been standing outside in the shadows of the caravan. 

...

Just before Levy and Makarov had entered the bar, she had quickly stopped off at the caravan she was sharing with Lucy to pick up a book. She had then talked with the old man about circus matters. Mainly about the tattoo business. They both agreed that she would find Reedus later and ask if she could get it done.

She felt slightly nervous about the whole thing, but soon forgot about it when she entered the big top.

"Mira!" Levy shouted before running up to hug the white haired bar maid excitedly.

"Levy! How good to see you, how are you?" Asked Mira, she had a large smile on her face and was cleaning some beer mugs.

The bluenette smiled "I'm great, actually I just accepted your request for an assistant barmaid!"

Mira's smile widened. "Oh really? That's great news! It will be much easier to have someone to help out." She then touched her forefinger to her chin, thoughtfully. "Shall we put you on trial tonight? Just to see how much you can manage with the members."

Levy beamed. "Okay, I'm looking forward to it!" She waved to the barmaid and turned only to collide with the torso of a tall man, wearing a heavy metal t-shirt.

"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed as she rubbed her nose which was the first thing that had come into contact with his rock hard ab muscles.

He looked down at her, smirking. "Pay attention shrimp" He said before taking a seat at the bar.

She sighed. "_I wonder who he learnt his manners from."_ She thought before taking a seat a few chairs away from him.

Remembering that she had brought her book along, she opened it up on the counter and began to lose herself in the fantasy world as she started to read.

"Aah_ this is the best part!" _She thought excitedly, not realising that Gajeel had been trying to get her attention for the past ten minutes. She only noticed when the book was suddenly pulled out of her grasp and was being dangled in front of her face.

"Gajeel! Give it back!" She shouted as she swung around on her chair to face the annoying man, who was grinning down at her.

"Gihihi, ill let ya have it... If you can reach it." He chuckled again when she huffed in frustration.

"Dont piss me off when I'm reading, you giant cow prod!" She shouted, using his studs as inspiration for her insults.

He glared at her. "You asked for it, bookworm." He then ran out of the big top with her precious book.

"_How dare he?!"_ She thought angrily before giving chase. "Give it back you metal bastard!" Levy screamed as she tried to catch up. "Oho using colourful language are we?" He laughed before running faster between the caravans. Unfortunately, her legs were too small so it was almost impossible to catch him.

The circus members watched, fascinated. "_He has never teased someone like__** that **__before."_ They all thought at once.

...

Levy finally sat down outside a small stall, completely exhausted. She still didn't have her book back, having lost sight of Gajeel when he ran past a tent and hid somewhere. "_Bloody coward, when I find him, I'm going to yank his hair out_, _strand by strand."_ She thought evilly as she fumed by the entrance of the stall.

She suddenly shrieked in surprise when something heavy landed on her lap. Staring at it, she realised it was her book.

Levy turned her head to look at Gajeel, who was now sitting beside her with a slightly tired grin on his face. "Thanks for that bookworm, haven't had a good run in a while." He chuckled, but yelped when Levy slammed her book down hard on his bicep.

"You're a real ass-hole, you know that? This book is my private property, and my name is Levy!" He smirked slightly at her furious expression.

Ruffling a hand through her hair he laughed a little. "Oh, cool off bookworm, I was just teasing."

"Cocky bastard" She muttered under her breath before standing up to look at the stall.

She groaned a little when she read the words on the sign, making Gajeel give her a questioning look.

The sign read **Portraits, paintings and tattoos**, and inside there was a man sitting with a paintbrush, working on a canvas.

"_He looks like someone stuck a bicycle pump in his mouth and blew him up."_ She thought, before shaking her head and scolding herself for thinking something so mean. _"That idiot's rudeness is rubbing off on me."_ She thought.

Taking a closer look, she saw the man wore a tall black hat and frizzy orange hair sticking out from underneath. "So this is Reedus?" She asked herself quietly.

Gajeel heard her though and stood up to stand close behind her. "Ya wanna get it now?" He asked.

Levy looked at him, and nodded, trying to ignore the fact that he was standing very close. She could feel the heat coming off his body and she shook her head again, trying to stay focussed.

Squaring her shoulders, she entered the tent and smiled when the large man before her turned around.

"Hello, I am Levy Mcgarden." She said confidently. "I was just recruited yesterday."

Reedus smiled at her. "Yes I have heard about you, I am Reedus Jonah." He said in a slightly wheezy voice.

He spotted Gajeel outside and nodded politely. The other man roughly returned the gesture.

"Well, you can probably guess why I'm here then." She smiled nervously. Her hands were shaking a little behind her back. Gajeel saw this and frowned, though Levy didn't notice.

"Indeed I have, please take a seat in that chair over there." He pointed towards a small stool in the corner, and she walked over and sat down, her hands clasped firmly on her knees.

"_I can believe I'm actually doing this...what am I thinking?!"_ She thought as she saw Reedus take out a silver case from a cupboard and set it on a small table before her, before opening it and to get all of the tools ready.

She looked over at Gajeel, who seemed to notice her distressed expression and walked over, ruffling her hair as he got close. "Don't worry about it shrimp, It doesn't even hurt." He quirked the corner of his lip at her. He then pulled up another stool and sat down beside her. Levy found this strangely comforting and welcomed his presence.

Reedus then turned towards her and smiled. "So, have you decided where you want it?" He asked.

Levy frowned. "_I didn't think about that one"_ She thought before shaking her head. "Somewhere that I can cover up easily if I want, and not have to worry about it."

She saw Gajeel lean back slightly before looking at her. "How about your shoulder blade?" He asked, his "eyebrows" rose as he waited for her answer.

Levy grinned and nodded her head. "_That's a good place, I wouldn't have thought about that."_

She was wearing a red singlet with spaghetti straps, so this would be easy.

She then braced herself against the desk as Reedus stood behind her, with the needle.

Levy felt her eyes begin to tremble when she felt the pressure of the needle on her shoulder blade, and she squinted her eyes shut against the pain that she feared was about to come.

She suddenly felt something rough and warm against her right shoulder. She lifted her head slowly, surprised to see that Gajeel had put his hand on her shoulder and was holding it firmly. He was looking away and she blushed at the contact before she looked down at her hands, which were still clenched.

"_Just knowing that at least someone is here to support me makes me feel better. Even if it is him." _She glanced at the man, noticing the slight pink on his ears and she looked away.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Levy said out loud, earning a small chuckle from Gajeel.

She nodded to Reedus, and he nodded back, giving her time to squeeze her eyes shut before he switched the needle on and pressed the point to her skin.

**Wow! Jeez, that was another long one :P i am trying to get out as much as possible before I go away with my family for the weekend, but dont worry, i wil pre-write chapters and put them up as soon as I get back! Is it wrong that I find Gajeel sexy? hes a fictional character for god sake! lol oh well. See you next time**

**Cheerio!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I swear, these chapters are getting longer and longer :P hehe a bit of NaLu and evergreenxelfman(spoiler, sorry! just incase some people dont like those couples.)**

**anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**Fairy tail and all characters belong to Hiro Mashima.**

Gajeel watched the spunky little shrimp as she bounced happily around the big top, showing off her tattoo with a smile on her face that made his ears burn.

He had sat with her an hour earlier as she was getting it done, his hand on her shoulder for support as she looked like she was going to pass out. Just remembering the contact made a faint blush appear on his cheekbones, and he quickly shook his head to remove his current thoughts. "_What the hell am I doing?"_ He thought.

Gajeel had decided not to tell her that the needle actually had a smaller, secondary tip that produced an almost instant anaesthetic that numbed the area where the first needle pierced the skin. He thought it would be better if she thought that the real thing didn't hurt at all.

He didn't notice that Lily was watching him as he stared at the bookworm, who was currently talking to Natsu and Lucy about the colour of their tattoos.

"You're staring at her, you know." The other juggler commented, making the studded man quickly turn away to growl at him.

"I'm just interested in their conversation." He muttered.

The other man raised an eyebrow. "If you're that curious, why don't you go and join in?" He said, giving him a mischievous smile.

Gajeel just glared at him before he rose from their table. "I'm going to go pick a fight with Salamander." He said, trying to mask the fact that he actually just wanted to talk with them.

Lily didn't look convinced, but nodded with the same smile on his face.

Grumbling, Gajeel took off in the direction of the three circus members, wanting to be a part of their conversation. "_Damn that guy! Just doesn't know when to stop bloody prying. Doesn't help that he caught me staring after practice…and when I was outside the caravan."_

He thought back to when he had stood outside the circus' library, listening to her talking with the green haired pansy. He clenched his fists slightly when he remembered that she had spoken so easily with the illusionist, whereas with him, it was usually just a couple of angry, awkward sentences.

Pulling himself from his inner turmoil, he stepped up to Bunny girl, shrimp and Salamander, who were now talking with ice stripper.

"Ya like it then?" He asked when he stood behind the bookworm. He examined the small, white tattoo that was now forever stuck to her shoulder blade.

The blue haired woman turned around and smiled at him. "Hello Gajeel! I didn't expect it to be so painless, but yes I absolutely love it!"

He let one of his devilish grins sweep across his face at her answer, before turning to the others. "So, whatcha guys talkin' about?" He asked in a curious, yet gruff voice.

Natsu looked up at him and grinned. "The colour of our marks."

Gajeel smirked at the sudden opportunity to insult them. "Okay then, I guess yours is red because you're a hot headed idiot, Bunny girls is pink cause she is girly on a creepy level and Ice stripper has a dark blue one cause it goes with his cold personality. The fact that it's on his chest and is visible every time he strips just confirms that he is a pervert."

He smirked and chuckled when his comments brought out the desired effects in all three. They all began to shout and throw insults at him before Levy broke in. "So what does that say about yours Gajeel?" She asked, before giving him a cheeky smile.

He stopped, lost for words when the others began to laugh at him. "It shows that you're a cold hearted bastard that enjoys violence." Grey, who was now shirtless, said before giving him a smirk.

_"This guy is going down!"_ Gajeel thought before clashing his head with Grey's. Natsu quickly joined in, not wanting to miss out on the fun.

"Come here and say that again to my face, you perverted fridge magnet" Gajeel growled in a threatening, yet playful manner.

Grey was doing the same thing. "With pleasure, metal brows."

Natsu, who was missing out a little, quickly began flinging insults. This all quickly led to them throwing punches at each other before Levy and Lucy stepped in between the three of them to stop the fight from becoming a full on bar brawl.

"Okay that's enough you guys, save it for later" Lucy commanded, smiling when she got the results she wanted.

Gajeel frowned at the shrimp, who was standing in his way, before shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn't really like the idea of having a fight with her around. He grimaced suddenly "_She really is starting to turn me into a pansy_!" He thought in horror.

His thoughts were interrupted when Bixlow and Evergreen walked up to them. "Hello, what have we here? New recruit mmm?" The man asked as he stood beside Levy. He had removed his head gear and his creepy little toys were floating around his head.

Gajeel tried and failed to suppress the shudder that went up his spine, as he attempted to convince himself that those things were just battery powered. _"This guy wouldn't give me the creeps if those things weren't around…_" He thought as he glanced at the little wooden dolls.

"Hello, I'm levy! I just got here yesterday." The shrimp said as she greeted them.

Bixlow grinned and let his tongue loll out of his mouth to reveal his mark, making everyone in a ten metre radius automatically take a step back. "Sup, I'm Bixlow, and these are my babies!" He shouted as he spoke fondly of the flying toys that were spinning in the air.

Evergreen then took a step forward and smiled a little at Levy, before extending her hand. "I am Evergreen, a pleasure to meet you." She said. She and the shrimp then shook hands.

"So, ya got ya tattoo then?" Bixlow asked

The bookworm grinned and turned a little to show them her mark. "Yes, about an hour ago."

Gajeel let his eyes wander while the conversation before him continued, realising that everyone in the big top had suddenly become quite interested in what they were talking about. This had become rather obvious since everyone was looking in their direction.

"Its amazing what Reedus can do." He heard Lucy say, before everyone nodded in agreement. The large, orange haired man was sitting in the corner of the big top and had turned his head to listen. The last part of the conversation had him smiling a little.

"Yea, that guy has got a really steady hand" Salamander stated.

Gajeel turned his head back to the conversation and noticed that Grey, who was in his boxers, had turned very pale with sweat dripping from his forehead. Gajeel looked closer and could just make out little purple stress lines appearing on his forehead.

"Oye, ice stripper, what's up with you?" Gajeel asked, earning the attention of Levy, Natsu, Lucy, Bixlow and Evergreen, along with most of the other people in the big top.

Grey's expression didn't change when he looked from Reedus, to Evergreen and Bixlow. A look of slight disgust and nervousness was in his expression.

Gajeel frowned. "_What the hell is the matter with him?"_ He thought before following the directions of Grey's eyes. Sudden realisation dawned on him and he began to sputter, his face taking on a similar expression to Grey. _"_Oh…hell no..." He muttered to himself.

This made everyone turn to look at him. Seeing their questioning gazes, he attempted to get as many words out of his mouth as possible.

"Evergreen…Bixlow…Tattoo…Positions…" He finally managed to get out, before grimacing.

Hearing this, everyone began to look at Evergreen and Bixlow, before the horrible realisation dawned on them as well.

"Oh, mother of **God**!" Everyone exclaimed when they made the connection.

Bixlow had his Fairy tail mark on his tongue, and Evergreen had hers on her chest, very close to a certain area that everyone was currently trying to get out of their minds. Reedus quickly began to make an unsuccessful attempt at hiding away in embarrassment when he also realised what everyone was thinking about.

The silence in the whole guild was interrupted when Cana, who was sitting with Laxus, yelled at the top of her voice. "Wow Reedus, you guys must have had some fun times." She winked and grinned at the poor man.

"This is messed up" Gajeel muttered before looking down at the shrimp, her nose was wrinkled and she was trying her best not to look at Evergreen or Bixlow.

"Jeez, couldn't you guys have chosen somewhere else?!" Natsu shouted. He had sweat dripping from his forehead.

Lucy and Grey were just standing there, completely speechless, not knowing where to look.

Evergreen suddenly gasped and a look of rage spread across her face. "Does that mean you all have been staring at my boobs?!" She screamed loudly, knocking everyone out of their trances and sending them all running for cover.

"This way!" Gajeel roared before racing up the stares to take cover from the woman's wrath. He then quickly dove under a large table. He turned to see that Laxus, Cana, Levy, Natsu, Lucy and Bixlow had followed his lead and they were now hiding with him.

Since there was no room, Lucy had ended up on Natsu's lap. Bunny girl's face was bright red as she tried to avoid the looks she was getting. Salamander, being his usual self, was completely oblivious and wasn't reacting at all. Gajeel rolled his eyes.

Bunny girl suddenly looked up. "Where's Grey?! She hissed.

Laxus was about to say something when Greys tortured screams echoed throughout the big top.

Natsu smirked. "Serves him right for ogling her in the first place, the pervert."

Levy looked worried. "Shouldn't someone help him?" She asked.

Gajeel glanced at her. "Not if you value your life." He said, and began to look out from under the table.

He grinned when he spotted Lily, Mira, Reedus, Wendy and Carla hiding under the opposite table. "How ya doing over there?" He asked quietly.

Lily glared at him "I can't believe you pointed that out! You're just as bad as Gray!" He hissed.

"_Well at least she forgot about me."_ He thought smugly.

He turned around to see Salamander talking to Juvia, Elfman, Happy, Guildarts and Freed who were all hiding behind the railing.

"Come on Elfman! You guys have a thing for each other right? Calm her down already!" Natsu hissed angrily at the white haired giant, while the sounds of absolute chaos continued to erupt from downstairs.

_"Shit! He's actually __**trembling!**_" Gajeel thought as he stared at the man, who was hiding behind Guildarts and Freed. He was shaking his head madly.

He heard a small gasp from beside him and almost fell over when he saw that the shrimp was pressed up _very_ close to him because of the cramped conditions beneath the table. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice his reaction because she had leaned forward slightly, a thoughtful look on her face.

"But Elfman, Isn't that something a real _man_ would do?" She asked. Everyone turned their heads to give her approving glances before joining in.

"Yea Elfman, hiding is so not manly." Wendy whispered from behind them.

Bixlow stuck out his tongue again, making Gajeel and everyone else lean back. "My babies think you're a _sissy_, Elfman." He stated.

"A _man _must be the one to save my Grey-Sama!" Juvia said as she sobbed in a corner.

Laxus delivered the final blow. "A true _man_ would not leave his comrades to suffer at the hands of some devil woman." He said clearly.

Everyone suddenly bent down to cover their heads when Elfman leaped onto the table they were hiding under. "I AM A TRUE MAN!" He roared loudly before jumping down the stairs to tackle Evergreen and her fury.

Everyone sighed in relief, before turning their heads towards Lily, who had cleared his throat to speak. "I suggest we make use of this opportunity to get the hell out of here." He shouted loudly, so that everyone could hear him above the ruckus going on downstairs.

Everyone nodded in agreement. One by one, they all started to crawl from their hiding places.

Just as Gajeel went to sneak down the stairs, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Shit!" He hissed in shock, when he turned around to see Mystogan behind him, carrying an unconscious, half naked Grey. It seems he also managed to move a battered Jet and Droy upstairs also. "When the hell did you get here?!"

"I _really_ wouldn't go down there if I were you." The hypnotist stated, making everyone nervous. Juvia however, had run to her precious Grey-Sama to try to revive him.

Gajeel frowned when he heard even more screams from downstairs. "Why the hell not?" He asked.

He almost regretted asking when the man pulled down the bandanna that covered his face, revealing some of his blue hair and the mark on his eye to give him a serious look. "Elfman stood on Erza's cake."

Gajeel and everyone else groaned "Oh, _hell _no!" While Levy just looked around, confused.

Mumbling and groaning, everyone returned to their previous hiding places, Gajeel making sure that he was sitting as close to the bookworm as possible, but not enough that he might squash her. _"Wait, what?! Why do I want to do that?!"_ He thought as he began to have conflictions with himself inside his head.

"What's so bad about Erza's cake?" Levy asked.

"Just don't ask!" Everyone replied.

…

Gajeel stood up next to the bar and stretched. He sighed when he heard the joints in his spine and shoulders pop. They were stiff from being hunched over under the table for four hours, so it had turned to evening by the time everyone felt brave enough to emerge from their hiding places.

He looked down at the shrimp who was sitting beside him, getting ready for her trial shift at the bar. "_Shrimp is so short she didn't have to hunch over…damned lucky."_ He thought before taking a few gulps of his beer that Mira had brought him a few minutes ago.

He noticed her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "What?" He grumbled.

She flushed a little. "That was really quick thinking you did before, when you led everyone to the second floor." She smiled. "It was a good idea."

Gajeel cocked an "eyebrow" at her. "I didn't lead everyone bookworm, you guys just followed me for some reason."

He grinned when she frowned at the use of the nickname. "I'm not sure why I still say this, but my name is _Levy!_"

"I remember your name ya know, you're reactions are just funny." He smirked when she scrunched up her nose at him.

He stopped when he saw Mira approaching them. "Hello Levy, I think this is a good time for you to start your trial, everyone seems much quieter tonight after what happened." She grinned.

Levy smiled and slid from her seat with a slight wriggle of her hips Seeing this, Gajeel spluttered into his drink and turned away quickly from the curious looks that both women had sent him.

He quickly composed himself before turning around and standing up to tower over the bookworm slightly. She was staring up at him with her large brown eyes, and he almost forgot what he had been about to say. "_What the hell is wrong with you?! Get a grip for f*cks sake!"_ He yelled internally at himself.

"Good luck shrimp." Gajeel finally growled out before turning and stomping away to sit with Lily, not waiting to see her reaction.

Having seen all of this, Lily gave Gajeel one of his mischievous grins as the other man sat down opposite him.

"Shaddup" He snarled after seeing his look.

Lily just smirked "I didn't say anything"

"You were about to" The other man said, feeling a tap on his shoulder.

He was surprised to see Mira standing behind him with a concerned look on her face.

"Wadda ya want?" Lily sighed at his lack of manners.

"I was wondering if you have seen Elfman anywhere. I haven't seen Evergreen either." She said worriedly.

He and Lily shared a knowing grin. It wasn't hard to put two and two together.

"I think it would be best if we left the two alone for a while." Lily said. His eyes were crinkling up in a large grin.

She sighed and nodded, before turning away to stand at the bar. Gajeel watched her go, his gaze slowly turning to the shrimp, who was having a fun time delivering food and drinks to the circus members.

He felt a frown form on his face when she walked over to Jet and Droy, delivering them their usuals, making quick conversation with them before walking away to attend to other members.

Seeing Gajeels face, Lily turned towards him. "Don't attack them, they are just being nice." He said with a serious tone in his voice.

He turned around. "Now why would I do somethin' like that?" He said, failing his attempt at being innocent.

The other man just looked at him blankly. "Because I heard about what happened with them this morning."

"_Shit..."_

"They were asking for it." He grumbled. Lily just sighed at him.

"Just try to control yourself next time." The man said.

Gajeel snorted. "Yes, _mother._"

…

It had been about ten minutes after Levy's shift had ended, and Gajeel was now walking back to his caravan, looking forward to some sleep after the crazy events that had occurred that day.

He yawned, exposing his large canines. "_Yup, sleep sounds great."_ He thought as he walked between a couple of caravans.

He stopped suddenly when he heard muffled voices coming from a few caravans away, and not being able to help himself, he edged closer in the direction the voices were coming from.

Gajeel stopped and leaned against the caravan opposite to the one where the voices had come from.

His ears pricked up slightly when he heard a voice that sounded like the bookworm.

"Admit it! You liiiiiiiike him." He heard her say.

_"Now this just got interesting."_ Gajeel thought.

Next was the bunny girl. "No! It's not like that at all! It was so cramped under that table that I just ended up sitting on him, that's all!"

Gajeel smirked. "_Denial"_

He was surprised when Levy said the same thing. "Denial, that's total denial right there. Your face is completely giving you away!"

He heard a huff. "Well what about _you_? Don't think I haven't noticed your little moments with a certain_ someone._

Gajeel suddenly straightened. "_Time to leave!"_ He thought before quickly walking away, missing the last few parts of the conversation as he made his way back home.

Usually it was fun, eavesdropping on someone else when it was about Salamander or Ice stripper, but this time he just felt uncomfortable.

He decided to come to the conclusion that they were probably talking about Jet or Droy. He growled slightly, thinking that was definitely what they were talking about before he entered his caravan and shut the door to get ready for bed.

**Hahaha, Oh im so sorry Reedus but I just had to when I saw a picture of evergreen XD. Gajeel, you really are clueless, and is that a bit of jealousy? mmm? lol. I thought it was about time I started including some NaLu and elfmanxevergreen, not too much though.**

**Ha i also realised that I made Freed look like he was forever alone in the last chapter, but dont worry, that will change :) I also couldnt help laughing at the way I portrayed master in the last chapter, he wasnt out of character was he? I hope not. **

**Well anyway, thanks for reading!**

**cheerio!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back baby! Thankfully, I was able to pre-write this chapter while I was away (family dragging me off to Rotorua D:) But I am back and can wait to get up the next few chapters.**

**Please read and review, and I hope you all like this chapter!**

**And i do not own fairy tail, all characters belong to Hiro Mashima yadayada.**

Levy slowly opened her eyes and yawned. The light was filtering through the curtains in the early morning and she could hear the soft pattering of the shower coming from the small bathroom across the room from her bed.

She sat up and took the time to familiarise herself again with her surroundings. Her bed was against the same wall as the front door, which was at the end of her bed. The opposite wall had a large bookcase and beside it was the bathroom door. Lucy's bed was wedged in between the two long walls, and the end of it was on the other side of the front door.

The small space between the bathroom door and the top of Lucy's bed was also occupied by a set of draws. Levy also had one against the wall between the top of her bed and the side of the bookcase.

Overall, Levy found it very cosy. She was already used to living here, even though the caravan she was staying in was an uncomfortable shade of pink.

Sighing, she stretched before turning over to roll out of her bed. She frowned when she saw her pillow, which was soaking wet.

"_Crap, I must have been crying in my sleep again..."_ She thought, slightly frustrated.

She stood up and changed into her favourite orange dress.

"I thought it would stop if I came here." She murmured to herself as she adjusted her headband in her hair to keep her blue locks off of her face.

Hearing the bathroom door swing open, Levy turned and smiled.

The blonde had just finished her shower. Thankfully, she had brought her clothes into the bathroom with her so that she was wearing them when she came out, sparing Levy the sight of seeing her in just a towel.

"Good morning Levy." Lucy said cheerfully, while she used a towel to dry her hair.

She smiled back. "Morning Lucy, did you sleep well?"

The other woman giggled. "I think so, though I was thinking quite a bit about what happened yesterday."

Levy grinned. "Do you think Elfman is ok after Erza jumped in?"

Lucy smiled mischievously. "I'm sure Ever patched him up just fine."

She laughed and turned away to continue getting ready when she felt Lucy prod her shoulder.

"That reminds me, our conversation from last night is so _not _over! You are not getting away until you spill the beans."

And before Levy could react, Lucy had already rushed to block the door to stop her from escaping.

"_Damn...I got out of it yesterday, but this time I may have to say something."_ She thought as she glanced around the room frantically to find another means of escape. "_Well, I guess I could always use the window...or a distraction."_

"Come on, fess up already." Lucy grinned evilly at her, waiting for her response.

"There is nothing going on!" She said, holding her arms out in front of her. "We just met, and he's an arrogant arse-hole. Besides, you were the one who ended up sitting on Natsu, if I recall."

She grinned when Lucy blushed. "I told you, there was no room!" She squealed.

While Lucy attempted to compose herself, Levy glanced at the clock on the wall and decided to put her distraction into motion.

The blonde looked at her when she pointed at the clock. "We are going to be late; it's almost 9:30."

She smiled when Lucy reacted exactly the way she had predicted.

"Quickly Levy! My bacon!" Lucy shouted as she flew out of the now open door; with her dog Plue following timidly at her heels.

Levy let a giggle escape her lips as she grabbed a book from the shelf, before running to catch up to Lucy, not wanting to keep her from her precious bacon. She always seemed to be eating it for breakfast.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at the big top, just behind Lucy and Plue._ "I should probably point out that it's unhealthy to eat bacon too often." _ She thought.

The two quickly ordered their meals from Mira before turning to take a seat with Erza and Grey at a nearby table. She frowned slightly when she saw Lucy chuckle. Seeing her look, the blonde nodded towards the bar, a sly grin on her face.

Levy followed the direction of her nod and gulped slightly when she saw Gajeel slouched against the bar, sitting next to Lily and gnawing on a piece of steak. She remembered what he had said to her yesterday before her shift.

_"...Good luck shrimp..." _

His words echoed through her mind. She shook her head and gave her cheeks a light slap to bring herself out of her daydream before turning around to sit with the others, seeing that her meal had arrived.

Levy plonked herself down on the bench beside Lucy and pulled out her book, only paying her food a small amount of attention.

After a little while of reading, she looked up and giggled when she noticed that everyone at her table had begun to pick the untouched food off her plate because it had started to go cold.

She watched over the top of her book, and grinned when the plate suddenly vanished. All heads turned towards a pink haired fire eater, who had started to lick the plate.

Grey stood up."Oye! I wanted some!" He shouted angrily, glaring at Natsu.

Erza also glared at Natsu, her face was wrinkled in displeasure at his lack of manners. "Natsu. Stop licking that plate at once, it's disgusting." She commanded firmly.

Lucy was too busy with her bacon to notice what was going on around her, though Levy had become too interested in the scene before her to continue reading her book.

Without warning, Natsu threw the plate at Grey and grinned in satisfaction when it collided with the other man's face. The food remains on the plate dripped down onto the front of Greys shirt.

He glared daggers at the pink haired man before suddenly becoming shirtless. Grey ignored the shouts throughout the big top for him to put his clothes back on.

"You're going to pay for that, flaming piece of shit!" He shouted angrily.

Natsu ran a few metres away. He then turned around and extended his arm out to beckon Grey forward, matrix style.

"Bring it on, boxer jock!" He shouted.

The two men ran at each other and started to throw punches, with Juvia shouting supportive words to Grey in the background. Levy watched with an amused smile and turned back to her book, before an enraged Erza stood up and began to pummel both of them for disturbing the peace.

Those last few moments went completely unnoticed by Levy, who was now focussed on her novel. She couldn't help herself when she began to squeak excitedly and hop up and down in her seat when she began to read the part where the hero attacks the enemy.

"Since when the hell did books become so exciting?"A familiar voice grumbled from across the table.

She looked up at Gajeel and let the corner of her mouth twitch upwards in a nervous smile.

"They have always been exciting, you would know if you actually read once in a while." She said confidently. "_I am just making assumptions, but I could still be right."_ She thought.

"I do read!" He scoffed. "Just not often..."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Levy said, in a slightly pompous manner.

He huffed before sitting opposite her with a "tch".

"So, what's it about?" He asked curiously.

She eyed him carefully, a little surprised by his question before answering. "It's a fantasy about how a hero must defeat an evil dragon to stop it from destroying his land."

He frowned. "What the hell? Dragons are awesome. No way would it lose to some idiot hero pansy."

She sighed. "Well y-"

"So? What are you two whispering about over here hmm?"

Levy groaned at the voice that had interrupted her. _"Shit, I forgot Lucy was here."_ She thought, and began to curse herself for not noticing.

She saw Gajeel snarl. "None of ya business bunny girl."

Lucy pouted at his rude behaviour.

Suddenly curious, Levy looked up at the man. "I have been wondering, why do you call Lucy bunny girl and Natsu Salamander?" She didn't feel the need to ask about Greys nick name because she already knew of his stripping habits.

The man before her suddenly let a devilish, slightly evil grin spread across his face, which revealed his rather sharp canines and a small dimple in his cheek.

Hearing a groan beside her, Levy looked down and was surprised to see Lucy repeatedly slamming her head against the table.

Hearing Gajeel chuckle, she turned her head back to him as he started to speak.

"Well, it was a few weeks after I arrived. The idiot flame head wanted to show off his so called skill. He ended up setting the big top on fire and almost half the tents and stalls outside exploded." Gajeel began to roar with laughter when he recalled the moment. Levy just sat there, giggling and shaking her head. "_Why am I not surprised?"_ She thought.

"That's not even the best one." Gajeel said as he leaned forward, still grinning. "A year after I came here, I caught bunny girl over there walking around in a bunny suit. Ya know, one of _those_ bunny suits." He began to chuckle his signature "Gihi" before he sat back against the seat.

Levy found herself gawking at Lucy, who now had her head on the table, her face flushed red in shame.

"Seriously? Where would you even get one of those?!" She asked the blond in exasperation.

Lucy just mumbled a string of profanities before pushing her plate away and standing up to order a drink.

Levy turned to grin at Gajeel. He quirked a studded eyebrow at her and smirked.

"Do ya wanna hear the time I came up with ice stripper's nickname?" He said mischievously.

Wanting to preserve as much of her innocence as possible, she held her arms up in an X shape before shouting "Absolutely not!"

...

Levy slid the book from the bookcase and sat at the desk in the corner of the library. She had started her shift twenty minutes ago and was already beginning her third book. "_At this rate, I will finish every single one in the next few weeks!" _She thought excitedly, as she sat down on top of the dest and began to read.

Just as she had finished the first page, the front door swung open. She looked up and saw a green haired woman and a dark haired man standing on the top step.

The woman smiled. "Hello, I'm Bisca." She said happily.

The man glanced at Bisca before looking back at Levy. "And I am Alzack." He said.

Not wanting to seem rude, Levy quickly ran over to greet them.

"Hello, I'm Levy Mcgarden." She said while examining the attires of the people before her.

To put it simply, it looked like they had just stepped out of a Wild West film.

"We have come to see if we could find a book on mechanics. One of our machines broke and we need to fix it." Bisca said suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Levy gave them a confused look, not knowing what they were talking about.

Seeing the expression on her face, Alzack began to explain. "We manage a shooting range stall. Our targets move on a turbine, and whoever shoots a certain amount of bulls eyes wins a prize."

"Oh!" Levy said, finally understanding. She quickly led them to a shelf and pulled out a selection of books on mechanics and machinery that looked helpful, before piling them into their arms.

The smiled at her gratefully and muttered their thanks before turning to leave.

Just as they were about to exit the caravan, the door flew open to reveal a worried looking Erza, Natsu and Happy.

Levy, Bisca and Alzack all stared at them, confused.

"Quickly now, Master has summoned everyone for an emergency meeting." Erza said before abruptly turning away.

Natsu waved before giving Levy and the other two a more detailed explanation. "The old man wants everyone at the big top. He sent us three to get everyone on this side of Fairy Tail, and you guys are the last ones, so let's go!" He said before leaping down the stairs.

Levy looked down at Happy, who just smiled before taking her hand to lead her outside.

She glanced at Bisca and Alzack, who shrugged at her before following them out of the caravan. They had chosen to leave the books at the library so that they could collect them later.

As they walked to the big top, Levy tugged on Natsu's scarf. He turned around to give her a questioning look.

"Do you know what this is about?" She asked.

She, Bisca and Alzack all sighed when he shook his head. "No clue." He said as he walked with his hands behind his head. "But Gramps sounded serious when he asked us to get everyone."

Erza, who was walking ahead, suddenly spoke. "Well, I'm getting an uneasy feeling. Whatever it is, I don't think we are going to like it."

The tone in her voice had everyone giving each other worried glances.

...

Levy took a seat on a bench with Erza, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel and Lily. Apparently Lucy and Grey were still rounding up people from the other side of Fairy Tail. Bisca and Alzack had left to sit at their regular table.

"Hey Levy."

"How are you?"

Levy turned around and smiled at Jet and Droy, who were sitting at the table behind her.

"Hey guys. I'm fine, but I am not too sure about what's going on at the moment."

Their faces took on an expression of concern. "Same with us." Jet said.

"I don't think anyone knows except the master." Droy said anxiously.

She nodded before turning back to the others at her table. Grey and Lucy had turned up, and Gajeel was giving the two men behind her an almighty death glare. She rolled her eyes at his behaviour.

A voice suddenly called out to everyone in the big top.

"Everyone, I have called you all today to discuss a serious matter." Makarov stated.

Everyone, including Levy, automatically sat up to listen. He was standing on top of the bar, whith his hands behind his back.

"Since yesterday evening, I have been receiving threats from Phantom inc." His words were met with shouts of outrage from the circus members. Levy looked around and saw that Lily had to hold back Natsu and Erza to stop them from destroying the table. Gajeel just sat there, his muscles tense and his face had a deadly expression.

"_Phantom...Why does that name sound familiar?"_ She thought.

The big top was suddenly filled with calls for Makarov to tell them what the threats were. The man's expression stayed the same.

"The threats mention that Fairy Tail will pay for refusing their demands, along with a few other things that you all don't need to know." This earned him a few complaints.

He held up his hand for silence, which almost immediately followed.

"The point that I would like to make now is that we may be attacked at any time. Certain individuals may be targeted. So I would like everyone to take precautions, like not walking around alone as much as possible. Especially at night, though the likelihood of them making a move during the day is just as high. Apart from that, there is not much else we can do, except arm ourselves and be prepared for the next few weeks."

He gave everyone a reassuring smile before walking out of the big top. "That is all." He said, as walked through the large gap in the tent that was used as a door.

Levy squirmed at the tense silence that had settled over everyone.

It was quickly broken after a few minutes by a very angry Natsu. "I'm going to find those bastards and beat the crap out of their shitty arses!" He roared, before racing out of the big top, with Grey, Erza, Elfman and Lucy hot on his heels.

She blinked at the empty spaces where they had once been sitting, before turning her eyes on the two remaining people at the table with her.

She frowned in worry when she saw Lily holding Gajeels shoulder firmly. The long haired man was repeatedly pounding his fist on the table, his face was shadowed and he looked absolutely furious.

Levy gasped when the wood splintered under his fist, and she stared at the large amount of blood that had begun to ooze from his knuckles. The impact of repeatedly hitting the table had made large wounds appear on the joints of his hand. He didn't seem to notice though, and continued to throw his fist at the table, even harder than before.

"Gajeel stop!" She and Lily shouted. Before her mind even registered it, she had sped around the table and had grabbed the arm that he was swinging.

"You're hurting yourself, stop it!" She shouted in his ear.

He suddenly stopped his rampage and turned towards Lily. "I thought ya said they wouldn't come back!" He snarled. Levy flinched at his dark tone and black aura.

Lily had a calm expression. "I am not a god damned fortune teller, Gajeel." He said.

The man growled darkly before standing up, roughly shaking them both off before he strode out of the big top, punching a hole in one of the walls on his way out.

She had started to run after him when a strong hand grabbed her wrist.

"Let him go, he needs time to cool off." Lily muttered.

Levy sighed and sat down. "Will he be ok? I never thought he could get so angry."

Lyly rubbed a cheek with his hand. "He only really gets this pissed when those guys pop up."

She stared at him, curious. "Why?"

He sighed. "Gajeel once worked for them. I think it was about three years ago now."

"I'm guessing that is a bad thing?" she said. She was even more curious now.

Lily shrugged. "It was before I came here, but apparently he was ordered to do something that would make Fairy Tail suffer. He couldn't do it alone of course, Juvia was with him."

She felt her eyes boggle. "Juvia?!"

Lily smiled sadly. "He only really managed to destroy the big top though. The Master did not retaliate because, what is a tent compared to people's lives? Well, that changed when Phantom realised that it would take more than just destroying a tent to get Makarov to react."

Levy was completely absorbed in the story. "So what did he do?" She asked.

"See those two over there?" Lily pointed discreetly towards the bar at two people.

Levy looked and frowned. "Jet and Droy?"

He nodded. "The head of Phantom is Jose. He was very disappointed that Makarov didn't give him the reaction he wanted, so Gajeel beat them up to make an example of them." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Let's just say they have never really forgiven him."

Her eyes widened. "_So that's why they don't get along."_

She focussed back on Lily when he continued to talk.

"Anyway, the circus members obviously retaliated after that. From what I hear, it was a bloody mess. No casualties though." Levy sighed in relief at that last part.

"Jose thought that Gajeel had failed him, so he sent him away. The same thing happened with Juvia. Though a bit later, Master took them in." Lily smiled.

"Did he ever forgive them?" She asked.

He shrugged. "No idea, but after three years everyone got used to having them around...Well, most people."

"_Right, Jet and Droy would have trouble having him around after that."_ She thought.

"So, what happened to Phantom?"

He frowned. "They are still around, though after Thursday, it seems they think of Fairy Tail as something more valuable. Something they can control. They most likely want to make more money."

Levy scrunched up her nose in thought. "But after all that happened, shouldn't everyone in Phantom have been arrested already?"

"You would be surprised at how influential they are. They have a lot of contacts in high places." Lily said.

"So, I'm guessing that this will be quite bad for us?" She asked.

Lily surprised her by flashing a huge grin. "If we do what Master says, then we should be fine."

She smiled back at him. "I suppose you're right."

...

Lily talked briefly with Levy outside the library after walking her back so that she could continue her shift. She had lost quite a bit of time talking about Phantom, and wanted to get back to her book.

She was just saying good bye to him when they were approached by a young messenger boy, wearing an official red uniform with a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hello there, young man. How may I help you?" Lily said pleasantly, while Levy smiled warmly at the boy.

"Good afternoon Sir, Ma'am." The boy said politely with a slight bow of his head. "I am looking for a Mr Lily Pantera; there is a letter here for him."

Lily raised an eyebrow but kept the smile on his face. "Then I'm the man you're looking for."

The boy then handed him a small notice that required his signature, which Lily signed, before he gave him the letter.

"Have a pleasant day." The boy said, before moving on to continue his work.

Levy smiled and waved goodbye to him before turning back around to Lily. Her smile faltered when she saw his expression.

"Lily, what is it?" She asked.

His hands were shaking a little as he read the letter. It was clear that he was quite distressed when he anxiously shoved the letter into his pocket before abruptly turning around to walk away.

Deciding that the library could wait, Levy hurried after him.

"Wait Lily. Calm down, what's happening?!" She called after him as they zigzagged their way through the gaps in the caravans.

The man stopped before the door of a dark grey caravan. He then turned towards her, his eyes clouded with worry and anxiety.

"There is no time to explain, but could you please get Gajeel for me? I have to start packing."

Levy nodded, though she was quite surprised at his request. "Where would he be?" She asked.

Lily then gave her rushed but simple directions to Gajeels location, before throwing open his door and leaping inside.

_"Okay, the same direction to Makarovs office, but a little further on there is a large oak tree, that's where he will be."_ Lily's words ran through her mind.

"I hope it's nothing too serious." She muttered to herself as she darted between some food stalls to the Master's office.

She was beginning to attract some attention as she raced around the tents, but she ignored the looks as she was too focussed on finding Gajeel to care.

Finally, after much sprinting and running, Levy made it to Makarovs caravan. She looked around before her eyes set on the oak tree that Lily had mentioned.

_"He has to be there!"_ She thought as she quickly made her way to the tree.

Levy was a few metres away when she began to shout his name. "Gajeel? Gajeel?! Are you here?" She called frantically.

She shouted for a few minutes before sitting down, completely exhausted. Running and shouting for the past half an hour had drained most of her energy.

"Shit...This is not going to work at all." She muttered to herself.

She was now sitting at the base of the tree, watching the orange leaves as they started to fall.

Levy then jolted forwards and looked up when she heard rustling branches and muffled curses that were coming from above her.

Slowly, she tilted her head up and her eyes widened when she saw Gajeel sitting in the branches. She bit back a smile when she saw his face emerge from the leaves. He was very pissed off, and he looked like he was on the verge of strangling the next living thing that crossed his path.

Unfortunately, that living thing happened to be Levy.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" He snarled menacingly, his eyes were narrowed making his red irises glint dangerously.

Sucking up her fear, Levy stood up and looked directly at his eyes.

"I came to look for you." She said sternly. "Lily got a letter from someone and he asked me to find you."

He looked away with a "tch." "What makes you guys think I care?" He asked angrily.

Levy huffed before placing a hand on her waist and sticking her hip out. "_Stubborn idiot."_ She thought before speaking.

"He has gone back to your caravan to start packing."

Before she could turn away, Gajeel roughly landed on his feet beside her. He then grabbed her wrist and began to run. He ignored her shouts for him to slow down.

He ran ahead of her the whole time, so she could not see his face until she reached his caravan.

"What's happening?!" She shouted as they neared his door.

The man let go of her arm and was about to growl something at her, but stopped, seeming to think better of it.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Aint got a clue. Go back to yer work and I will try to explain later."

Levy nodded at him. He did the same before turning around to open the door of his caravan.

Not waiting to see him walk inside, she turned around and started to walk back to the library.

"_What the hell could possibly be going on?"_

...

Closing her book, Levy looked at the small clock on the desk. "Its 10:30 already? I must have gotten too caught up in the book." She muttered to herself.

She placed her little pile of books in their rightful places, before closing the curtains of the small, high windows.

After she had turned off the lights and locked the door, Levy started to walk back to her caravan when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Shit!"

She had almost jumped twice her height into the air in surprise.

"Who Th-Oh!"

She had turned to give whoever it was a piece of her mind, but stopped when she saw Gajeel's familiar silhouette. He was standing very close.

In the dim light of the lamps, she could see that he looked quite distressed; his body language was suggesting the same thing.

"Gajeel, what happened? Is Lily ok?" She asked.

He lowered his head slightly, making his brows shadow his eyes. She counted the seconds internally, waiting for him to say something.

After about a minute of silence, she clenched her fists and stepped forward to place a hand on his upper arm in a comforting gesture. Well, as close to his upper arm as she could since she was short. His muscle flinched where she made contact, but he didn't shake her off.

"Gajeel, wha-"

"He's leaving." Gajeel said, interrupting her question.

Levy stared up at him. She had known that Lily had planned on going somewhere since after he mentioned packing his bags.

Her hand was still on his arm, but she made her grip a bit more firm. This time it was him who needed her support.

_"Looks like he is in shock."_ She thought.

"For how long?" Levy asked.

Gajeel moved his head so that his piercing red eyes met hers. He exhaled as if he had been holding his breath the whole time.

"I don't know."

**And the plot thickens! MUAHAHAHA-ehem. Sorry about Lily, but it is all according to plan, I swear! :D please don't hate me... **

**anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, please review :)**

**cheerio!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone! Here is chapter 9, I hope you like it! please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**Fairy Tail and all characters belong to Hiro Mashima. :D**

So far, this was turning out to be a really bad week for him. No, scratch that, this was by far one of his worst weeks ever.

After the rather horrible events from yesterday, Gajeel had decided to spend the night in his anger management tree.

"_Crap...what time is it?"_ He thought as he sat up quickly from his awkward position on a large branch.

After an uncomfortable sleep, he had woken up bleary eyed and confused, with a pounding headache. Not knowing exactly where he was, he attempted to roll out of what he thought was a bed.

"What the fuck!" He shouted loudly when he fell hard on the ground, bouncing a little after making contact with the tree's roots.

He cursed a bit more and sat up. He could tell that this was going to be a _very_ bad day.

Gajeel rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head, and tried to think about what happened yesterday evening. "_Of all the god damned places I could think of, why a fucki'n tree?!"_ He thought angrily.

He sighed and leaned his back against the old oak's trunk. "_So, I remember talkin' to the shrimp. Then I walked back to her caravan? Then I came here...may have had a few beers first."_ He thought, deciding that was why his head hurt so much.

"Should probably...get back." He muttered to himself. He struggled against the headache and his sore body parts, but when he finally got up he managed to start walking clumsily towards his home.

...

Not really thinking straight at all, Gajeel slammed his foot into the door of his caravan. It crashed open and he stomped in to take a shower because he reeked of alcohol.

"Shit Gajeel, I was trying to _sleep_!" Said a frustrated voice that came from a bed in the corner.

He turned his head slightly to the figure covered in sheets and sighed. After hearing about what happened yesterday, he didn't know exactly what to say to Lily.

"Sorry. Need a shower." He muttered.

Lily sat up in his bed, a frown on his face. "Apologising? In the morning?! You must be hung over." He decided.

He rolled his eyes. "Har har, you're so funny." He said with all of the sarcasm he could muster, which wasn't much at all.

Lily sighed. "I have to go you know. I can't just leave my uncle alone in the hospital."

The remaining alcohol seemed to fuel Gajeels brain, and he growled. "Couldn't he have chosen a better place? Like Magnolia hospital instead of freakin' Onibas hospital?! That place is three days away from here for Christ's sake!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "You can visit anytime if you think you will miss me you know."

He grumbled before plonking his butt down on his bed, which was at the opposite end of the caravan to Lily's.

"I aint gonna bloody miss ya. I can't just perform alone you know, I would look like a complete idiot."

The other man shrugged. "Then pull out until I get back."

Gajeel furrowed his brows and shot up. "But we don't even know when you will be back! I could just be sittin' around on my arse doing nothing for who knows how long!" He yelled. He was letting his hang over get to him.

"Well, you could find someone else to do an act with. Combine two together?" Lily suggested.

"How the hell would that work? You know our routines best, and you're the only person I can actually stand to work with." He muttered. "What is he sick from anyway?"

"He has a terminal illness. They didn't say exactly what it was, but apparently he only has a few months to live." Lily said with a sad look in his eyes.

Gajeel didn't really have much to say to that. Mostly because the hangover was beginning to make his head spin. _"May have had more than just a few beers."_

He sighed. "Anyway, I thought all trains were closed cos of the public holiday or somethin'. How are ya planning on getting there?"

"You know my friend Shagotte lives near Magnolia. She owns a small, two person flight craft. I sent word to her last night that I need a ride."

Gajeel nodded slightly and walked over to lean on the bathroom's door frame. "Are you sure that's not just an excuse to go see her?" He said slyly, giving his friend a mischievous grin.

He knew he had touched a small nerve when a flying pillow sent him sprawling onto the bathroom floor.

"Just take a bloody shower, you damned alcoholic!" Lily shouted, and began to get out of bed.

Gajeel grumbled and threw the fluffy projectile back at the other man's face before grabbing a towel and slamming the door shut. "No need to be shy Lil, just tell her how ya feel!" He shouted at the locked door with a grin on his face.

He heard Lily growl on the other side. "If you don't shut up then I will find a new way to blackmail you."

Not liking the sound of this, He gulped and quickly got ready for his shower.

...

"It really won't be that bad Gajeel, just find someone to replace me for a while. Or just find another job to do until I get back." Lily said to him.

Two hours had passed since Gajeels ungraceful entrance into his caravan. He and Lily were now sitting in the big top; he had his head on the table and was completely miserable. Lily was giving him sympathetic glances, as well as some slightly comforting sentences.

He growled into his arm that was lying into the counter, and mumbled a few curses that he thought were the appropriate replies.

They were waiting for the old geezer to turn up so that they could tell him that they wouldn't be able to perform until Lily got back. Until then, they were stuck in the oversized tent with nothing to do.

"Can this get any more boring?" Gajeel grumbled.

He sat up and looked around to see if Salamander or ice stripper were around. He wanted to do something fun, and right now a fight sounded perfect.

He grinned when he saw the bookworm sitting with bunny girl at one of the other tables. _"Time to have some fun." _He thought.

Lily, seeing the look on his face, shook his head before going up to the bar to order something.

Meanwhile, Gajeel had now repositioned himself so that he was now standing behind the bookworm. She was so caught up in the world of books with the blonde, she didn't even notice him.

He then held up his hand to her forehead and flicked it, chuckling when she yelped in surprise.

She turned to glare at him, and was about to speak but stopped when she saw who it was that had just assaulted her forehead.

Then, she smiled at him. Not a normal smile, a sad one. His eyes widened a little, he hadn't expected that.

"Morning Gajeel, how are you and Lily?" She asked, with a worried tone in her voice.

He grumbled out a "Mornin'" before seating himself on the side that wasn't occupied by bunny girl. He didn't bother to answer her question.

_"No fun at all_." He thought miserably, before he once again let his head flop onto the table in boredom.

"So, when is he leaving?" He heard her ask.

"After he tells the old man." He replied, before looking up to see Lucy staring at them, confused.

"What are you guys talking about? Who is leaving?" She asked.

The shrimp spoke. "Lily is. He says that his uncle Faust is in hospital and has to go visit him."

Lucy then turned to look at him and he nodded.

Lucy frowned. "So, who is going to perform with you?" She asked.

Gajeel looked away."No one. I'm gonna have to wait till he gets back."

"But Gajeel, you can still perform right? Don't you have any techniques that you can do by yourself?" Asked Levy.

He just shrugged. "I may be able to, but it may be hard since most of the routines I do are done with a partner." _"Though, I could probably create some new routines for just one person."_ He thought.

Lucy was about to speak but was stopped when the circus members around her started shouting greetings towards the Master, who had just walked into the big top.

Gajeel stood up and began to make his way over to Makarov. But not before ruffling Levy's hair. He grinned when she let out an angry huff.

"Oye, old man." Makarov turned to face him with a raised eyebrow.

"Need to talk with you." He said, before indicating to Lily, who was at the bar. He rose from his seat when he saw them both talking and walked over.

"Morning Master." He said politely. The old man nodded his head in response.

"Hello kids, how may I help you?"

Gajeel growled a little. "_I aint no kid. I'm twenty in two months, dammit!"_ He decided to keep this thought inside his head.

Lily just pushed his hands into his pockets. Gajeel did the same before they began to explain.

"I am afraid that I have to leave soon. My uncle is in hospital and I must see him, I don't know how long I will be, but they say he only has a few months to live." Lily said calmly.

"He is going to come back." Gajeel said. "We just don't know when. Unless I can come up with some single person routines, I won't be able to perform until he returns."

Makarov sighed and looked up at them. "That is a shame. You two are one of the best acts." He grumbled.

He then looked up at the two of them. "When do you plan to leave?"

"As soon as possible, my bag is already packed outside." He said.

Gajeel stayed silent. "_Can't believe he's bloody leavin' me by myself." _He thought angrily. A sudden thought occurred to him and he grinned. "_At least I can have the caravan."_

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he realised that the master was talking to him. "Listen Gajeel, I think you should refrain from performing for the next few shows. Take some time to figure things out and let me know when you feel ready." The man said.

Believing this to be a rather good idea, he nodded in agreement, though he hated to stay out of the ring for so long. But if he didn't want to look like a complete idiot in front of the audience, he would just have to grin and bear it.

He looked around and realised that their conversation hadn't exactly been a private one. Every single member had been listening in, and now there was a very awkward silence.

This was broken when they were suddenly glomped by _everybody_.

"No! The fuck do ya think yer doing?! He yelled as he was pushed to the floor by the surge of people.

Lily and the Master were not spared and were also thrown to the floor, screaming as their lives began to slowly get squeezed out of them.

Gajeel looked down at all of the people who were now hugging him. He didn't do hugs, especially if it came in a tsunami of people like this.

"What the hell Salamander!" He shouted at the pink haired man, who had his arms wrapped around one of his. He took the opportunity to punch him in the face to make him let go.

"God damn it you idiots! Hug Lily, he's the one who's leaving!" He finally shouted.

He let out a sigh of relief when the pressure of at least a thousand hugs left his body and migrated over to Lily and Makarov, who were still screaming and shouting to be released. He noticed that the Levy had not joined the mass hug and was still sitting at her table, laughing at them.

The giant crowd of people finally broke up when Erza threatened to enforce disciplinary action.

"Ehem...Well, I guess that's your good bye sorted." Makarov said to Lily, who sighed before standing up and turning around to face everyone.

"I do have a good reason to leave, but I will come back. I am just not sure when." He then gave them one of his wide, cat-like grins.

Everyone began to sniffle and call out farewells to Lily, who began to make his way out of the big top. Gajeel followed him outside and waited for him to hoist his bag over his shoulder.

They then made their way to the large gate that was used to enter and exit the circus.

Lily turned to Gajeel and gave him a concerned look. "Will you be alright?" He asked.

He snorted. "Ya think I can't take care of myself?"

The other man grinned. "Just don't be a hermit, and train every day. Don't want you dropping every single club I throw at you when I come back."

He let a large grin spread across his face before clapping his hand against Lily's shoulder. "Yes _mother_."

He chuckled his usual "Gihi" when Lily swatted at him and he stepped back. "Just make sure you do come back. I don't wanna get kicked out for not doing anything."

Lily gave him a wide smile and they both grabbed each other in a large bear hug. "I give you my word." The man said when he stepped back.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Sure sure."

He slipped his hands into his pockets as he watched Lily begin to walk to Shagotte's place. As he walked, he turned his head slightly towards him. "I expect the caravan to be clean and alcohol free when I get back!" He shouted, though there was a smile on his face.

"tch, clean it yourself!" He shouted. He was also smiling.

Lily laughed and turned his head back to the direction he was heading in, before raising his free hand above his head as he departed.

...

When Lily reached the edge of the forest that contained Shagotte's house, he turned around again to take a last glimpse of Fairy Tail before he left. He was standing on top of a hill that overlooked the circus. What he saw made him gape slightly. This was not what he had expected.

Standing before the gate, at the base of the hill was Gajeel. He could see him grinning like the maniac he was. The whole circus stood behind him, also grinning like happy lunatics. Each and every single member had an arm extended over their heads, the backs of their hands turned towards him with their forefingers pointing to the sky.

He knew exactly what that meant.

Lily took one last look at the members, his eyes landed on Gajeel. He spotted a small bluenette by his friend's side and he smiled, before extending his arm into the air to return the gesture.

When they saw this, the whole circus cheered loudly, making him smile even wider.

He took one last look at his home and true family before he turned around and strode into the forest.

"_Those two had better be together by the time I get back."_ He thought as he began to make his way through the dense trees towards Shagotte's home.

...

Gajeel sat at the bar and began to chug down his third beer. In Fairy Tail, if someone left or someone new arrived, there would always be a celebration to follow.

He placed the half empty mug roughly on the table, before swinging around in his seat to lean against the bar and observe the other circus members.

Some of the members that were less eager to start a fight were talking about Lily and old times.

Natsu, Grey, Erza, Elfman and Guildarts were already half drunk and were now holding an arm wrestling competition, with Juvia obviously rooting for Grey and Happy supporting Salamander.

Cana was having a drinking competition against her boyfriend, who looked almost ready to pass out, along with Wakaba and Makao.

He chuckled. "_He should know better than most that no one can out drink Cana."_ He thought.

Lucy was sitting on the stairs, talking with Loke, Wendy and Carla.

There was just one other person that he could not find. Gajeel sat up slightly and craned his neck to look for the little shrimp. He spotted her sipping an apple cider and talking to Mirajane as they were on a short break from their bar work.

He smiled a little before turning back around to drink his beer. He was about to grab his mug, when a roaring Guildarts crashed into him.

Gajeel quickly manoeuvred himself so that he didn't end up crushed beneath the ginger. He did not want to end up like Happy, who had been unfortunate enough to end up stuck under the ridiculously heavy man a few days ago.

"Alright, who is the idiot shit head that threw the alcoholics dad at me?!" He shouted menacingly.

He sighed in frustration when Elfman stood up, puffing out his chest. "A real man shoul-"

The white haired man didn't get to finish his sentence, because Gajeel had picked up his chair and swung it at the side of his head.

He laughed wildly when the Elf dude fell on the table where Cana and Laxus were getting drunk together. The table shuddered before collapsing under his weight.

The blonde man sat up, miraculously revived, and removed his headphones. Gajeel watched as the man then whispered something in his girlfriend's ear, making her giggle, before he handed his headphones to her to look after.

Gajeel grinned sadistically when Laxus turned around and cracked his knuckles. He smiled and narrowed his eyes at him.

"You really want to start this, scrap metal?" The blonde asked.

Gajeel just smiled even wider. "Bring it on, thunder pants!" He roared before running at him at full speed.

Laxus also ran at him and they both met halfway, their arms raised, ready to punch. Laxus swung first, but Gajeel saw it coming and dodged before clobbering the blonde over the head. This sent him into a nearby table, which broke in half at the impact.

"Take that you idiot!" He laughed in victory.

Gajeel didn't seem to notice that the man's vengeful girlfriend had run up behind him, until he was knocked to the side with a large barrel. He was sent flying into Grey, who landed on top of Juvia.

The bluenette gasped for breath and her face turned red. "G-Grey- Sama!" She shrieked. Grey grinned down at her before standing up. For some reason, he was now in his boxers.

Juvia gaped at him before passing out with hearts in her eyes.

_"That bloody woman." _Gajeel thought and rolled his eyes, after having seen the whole thing.

He turned his attention to Erza, who was now sparring with Fried on top of the bar. He noticed that the green haired man was actually stopping the drunken Titania from getting behind the bar to attack Mirajane, who was clinging onto Freeds leg and shaking her fist angrily at the red head.

"Where is Mystogan when you bloody need him?!" Bixlow shouted as he ran as fast as he could from Loke. His tongue was flying out of his mouth like a dog with its head hanging out of a fast vehicle.

The strange man's prayers were answered soon after when Mystogan arrived and placed a hand on Erza's shoulder to stop her rampage.

Gajeel didn't see what happened next because of a hit from Natsu. He quickly kicked the pink haired man onto the second floor. Happy quickly ran up the stairs after him.

What Gajeel saw next had him frozen solid in shock for a few minutes, along with a couple of other members that he had just been fighting.

It was the small blue shrimp, darting from side to side as she dodged playful punches coming from Laxus. She then leaped into the air and kicked the man in the face, sending him crashing into Guildarts.

Levy landed on the ground. She was swaying slightly and giggling. "_Tipsy and bordering on drunk."_ He thought when he spotted a half empty bottle of tequila in her hand. "Who the hell gave her _that_?! He shouted, loud enough for a few others to hear.

"Oh dear, that was meant for Evergreen." Mirajane said. The white haired woman was clinging onto Freed's shoulder, the man had his arm protectively around her waist so that he could move her if anything came flying in their direction.

Gajeel looked around and spotted the likely culprit. Drunken Cana was leaning on a Drunk Lucy's shoulder. Both girls were completely nuts and were laughing loudly. The bunny girl had somehow managed to get Natsu into a death grip and was now giving him a nuggie.

He watched and grinned when the man started to struggle and squeal for help. Unfortunately for him, Happy was out of commission because a tipsy Carla was pulling on his hair, stopping him from going anywhere.

Gajeel looked around. Wendy was nowhere to be seen. "_Probably in the bathroom or somethin'"_ He thought.

He suddenly felt a sharp tug on his hair. He yelped and whirled around, to see Levy yanking at his spiky black locks.

She gave him an evil grin which gave him chills and he stepped backwards. This Levy was a little overbearing.

"Can I chop off your hair?" She giggled.

He found himself shrieking "Get the hell away from me!" Before running away as fast as he could.

Gajeel found himself being chased all over the big top by the little blue haired woman, who seemed to be doing a great job of keeping up with him, even as he vaulted over tables and chairs and ran through people warring against each other, she still managed to keep up.

Eventually, after they had run around for nearly half an hour they both began to tire out. Though she still followed him as he stumbled and tripped over broken objects.

He looked around to see what was happening around him as he walked. It had calmed down quite a bit now. Mystogan and Erza had disappeared somewhere, along with Freed and Mirajane.

Bunny girl, salamander and Grey had all landed on top of each other in a heap and had fallen asleep, with a snoozing Juvia clinging onto Grey's legs. Thankfully, he was wearing pants.

Bixlow and Loki were lying under some rubble, completely unconscious while Carla and Happy were on the second floor, playing card games.

He spotted Evergreen tucked happily under Elfmans arm. Both were lying on a collapsed table, talking quietly.

The two dorks, Jet and Droy, were hanging from the coat hanger near the entrance. He chuckled and silently thanked who ever did that to them.

He suddenly felt a hand brush his arm and he was reminded of why he was still wandering around. "_Shit! She hasn't even given up yet?!_ He grumbled angrily and speed walked, well, speed tripped, to the bar. It was the last place he could think of. "_I am way too tired for this."_

Finally, he made it to the bar. Using the last of his strength, he grabbed the other side of the counter and hauled himself across before collapsing in the inside of the bar.

"_Did she follow me?"_ He thought. He could hear nothing but silence, until a loud snore coming from opposite him made him jump.

Gajeel growled at Cana and Laxus, who were cuddling each other in their sleep. Their snores were loud enough to wake the dead.

He ignored them, and sighed in relief. "_I'm safe."_ He thought before settling down against the draws to take a nap.

He quickly thought about his uncomfortable position and grabbed a fluffy tea towel from one of the draws and placed it behind his head.

Just as he was about to drift off, the sound of creaking floorboards had him opening his eyes.

His studs almost shot off his forehead in surprise and he attempted to scramble away from Levy, who was slowly approaching him with a tired grin on her face.

Before he could make another move, she was standing before him, slouching forward slightly.

"You are hard to find, for such a tall person." She sighed, her eyes closing suddenly from exhaustion.

He acted without thinking, and quickly held his arms out to catch her before she landed on the wooden floor.

Gajeel suddenly felt the weight of her small body in his arms and he frowned. "You are so damned tiny." He muttered. She didn't answer him, and he turned her over slightly to see her face.

The alcohol, after giving her the buzz of a lifetime, had completely knocked her out. And now, she was laying in his arms, sleeping soundly.

He sighed. "_What the hell am I gonna do with you."_ He thought.

With a small "Tch," Gajeel repositioned himself so that he was lying on the floor, his head was against the tea towel and the shrimp had her head tucked comfortably in the space between his shoulder and collarbone. He moved his left arm so that his forearm was draped over her waist to stop her from falling.

Gajeel then rested his head back and closed his eyes. Once again, he was about to fall asleep, when a voice made him crack an eye open and growl slightly.

It was Mira, peeking over the bar and smiling. "Gajeel, I just wanted to let you know that you are on grocery duty tomorrow." She said kindly.

The devil woman then got an eyeful of their situation and grinned. "Well, she sure has taken a liking to you." She said mischievously.

Gajeel grunted angrily. "It was the spirits. She collapsed here and I'm tired, so go away and let me sleep, demon lady."

The white haired woman shrugged and turned away, leaving him in peace.

Finally, Gajeel let his eyes close and he fell asleep, holding the bookworm against his side.

**hehehe fluuuuf! :D and some miraxfreed :) anyway, i hope you guys liked this update! please review!**

**cheerio!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Such a long chapter :D i am going to be going away next week, so i want to get out as much as possible. Anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think! and if there are any mistakes.**

**Fairy tail and these characters all belong to Hiro Mashima!**

Levy stirred from her sleep and began to slowly pry her eyes open. After her drunken episode from last night, the only thing she could vaguely remember was Cana giving her a bottle of water to drink. By the time she had realised that it was not actually water, half the bottle had already been chugged down by her and Lucy.

She couldn't remember a single thing that had happened afterwards, which was probably not a good thing at all.

Her eyes were wide open, but the effect of the alcohol on her brain was making her sight blurry so she couldn't see much. Levy decided to go by touch instead, but when she attempted to groggily sit up, she found that something heavy was draped over her small body, preventing her from moving.

She frowned and moved her hands across the weird black mattress that she had assumed she was sleeping on. _"What a weird mattress, it's really tough." _She thought, and began to pat it.

Her hands slowly began to move upwards and her eyebrows rose when her bed grunted. "_What the..."_

Levy decided to turn her attention to the thing that was stopping the rest of her body from moving. She twisted slightly and grasped the thing with both hands and began to lift it. She grimaced, it was quite heavy.

After only managing to lift the heavy object a couple of centimetres, she let it drop back down and gasped, trying to get her breath back. "What the hell..." She murmured angrily to herself.

Since lifting the thing was quite useless, she decided to focus on returning her eye sight back to normal.

She lifted her hands to her face and began to rub her eyes before she blinked them repeatedly. Levy smiled when they slowly began to stop squishing everything in muddling and confusing shapes and she started to distinguish what was what.

She first noticed that she was behind the bar and that opposite her was Cana and Laxus, whose sleeping positions looked quite uncomfortable. The blonde man was sitting with both legs stretched outwards with his face pressed to the floor between them; his arms were stretched out on the floor behind his back. His girlfriend was draped across his back, which was what seemed to be the cause of his strange position.

Levy chucked a little before she decided to figure out what was restricting her movement.

She jerked in surprise when she looked down to see that the object was, in fact, an arm. A very muscular arm, to be exact.

She squeaked and looked over it to see if she could identify who the body part belonged to. "_A couple of scars, red fingerless glove and...Four studs."_

Her mouth suddenly fell open. "Studs?!"

Levy quickly covered her mouth and cussed slightly at her outburst. Hoping that she had imagined it, she quickly lowered her eyes to look at the arm that was draped under her arms and over her stomach.

Nope she hadn't imagined it. Right in front of her were four shining metallic studs that ran up a strong forearm and stopped a few centimetres before the elbow.

She knew of only one person in this circus that had a large amount of piercings. To confirm her thoughts, she slowly craned her head upwards.

Gajeels face was only inches from hers and her head was lying between his collar bone and shoulder. Levy squeaked and her face turned beet red. "_Oh god, oh god...What the hell did I _do _last night?!"_ She thought in horror and embarrassment.

His head was leaning back slightly against a fluffy tea towel. He looked like he was sleeping deeply and she sighed in relief. She hoped that she could escape before he woke up.

Her face was still a deep red when she moved her head back down to his arm. "_How do I get out of this?!"_ She thought anxiously.

Levy would need to get out quickly. The last thing she wanted was for the rest of the members to wake up and see them like this, Lucy especially.

She decided to use her size to her advantage and began to wriggle out from under Gajeels arm, while lifting it as high as she could.

Eventually she managed to slip her head out from under his arm and roll to the right so that she was sitting on her lower legs.

Levy turned her head to look at Gajeel. The arm that had trapped her was now lying across his stomach, his left one was braced behind his head. His left leg was bent and leaning up against the bar while his other one was extended.

She sighed when she realised that she was staring at him.

"_He looks very peaceful when he sleeps."_ She thought with a small smile on her face.

She was reminded of her escape when Gajeel snorted and turned over slightly. "_Gotta go, gotta go."_ Levy silently urged herself to start moving and she began to crawl away to the other end of the bar as fast as she could, slipping slightly on a small puddle of wine as she did so.

She turned back when she reached the other end. Gajeel was still sleeping, so was Laxus and Cana.

"_I can't just leave him like that." _She thought, referring to Laxus, who looked like he was about to break his back.

Levy quickly stood up on wobbly feet and crept over to Cana, before poking her cheek. The brunette stirred slightly, but fell asleep again.

She grumbled before moving around Laxus to get to the woman's face. Putting her hand to her mouth, she whispered in her ear.

"Cana...Guildarts is drinking all of your beer."

The woman responded instantly at the mention of her father drinking her precious alcohol by jumping up to throttle her, with her foot braced against her boyfriends head.

She fixed Levy with a death glare and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Where is my shitty old man?" Cana growled like an animal.

Levy pointed down at the poor man, whose scull was now being crushed by the woman's feral rage.

"Cana, you are killing you're boyfriend." She squeaked.

Cana then looked down and shrieked when she saw that Laxus was indeed being crushed to the floor by her foot.

The man had begun to wake up, and was now flailing his arms in an attempt to get free.

Levy sighed and turned to look around while Cana began to fret over him, apologising over and over.

The bluenette once again, for the second time that week saw the almost total destruction of the big top, which was filled with broken furniture and covered in sleeping bodies.

"For God's sake." She muttered and turned back to Cana, who was trying to help Laxus stand.

She became concerned when he fell back on the floor, rubbing his head. "Would you like some help?" Her offer was greatly accepted and she moved to Laxus' other side.

It took quite a bit of effort to haul him up, but they managed to get him to stumble to the bar, leaning on them for support.

He then took a seat on the counter and mumbled his thanks, before turning to talk with his worried girlfriend.

Levy smiled before looking over at Gajeel at the other end of the bar. He had begun to wake up also. The man had a confused expression on his face and he felt around beside him for something that wasn't there.

She blushed, knowing exactly what that something was.

"_Pretending it never happened seems to be the best option."_ She thought, not wanting things to be awkward.

Levy nodded to herself and decided that she would start looking for Lucy so that they could head back.

She quickly made her way around the bar and started to look for her friend under the broken tables and chairs.

"Lucy?" She called softly, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

She frowned when she saw no sign of her, and made her way to the second floor.

Levy did a double take when she saw the blonde woman sleeping on the lap of a certain pink haired man, who was leaning his back against a table leg and drooling in his sleep.

"_That's gross...And yet, so cute!"_ She squealed inside her head.

Not having the heart to wake Lucy up, Levy retreated down the stairs to return to her caravan.

After making her way around the piles of furniture and circus members, she attempted to walk out of the big top, but was stopped by a white haired barmaid.

"Good morning Levy." Mira smiled sweetly.

Levy smiled back. "Hello Mira." After thinking for a few seconds she spoke again.

"Do you know what happened last night? After I drank from that bottle, I can't remember a thing."

The woman lifted her eyes to the ceiling in thought before speaking. "I do believe that you kicked Laxus in the face, before chasing Gajeel around the big top for some reason." She then smiled with a little glint in her eye that made Levy very uncomfortable.

"And _then_ when I came back a little later, I saw him-"

Mira was abruptly cut off by the tall, dark haired man who had suddenly decided to show up. "Oye. Demon lady, don't go spouting shit so loud this early in the mornin'." His deep voice growled angrily.

Levy stood straight and still like an iron pole when she realised he was standing behind her. She said nothing; too busy trying to force the light blush out of her cheeks.

She tried to say something, like a greeting or anything else that would work.

But nothing came out of her mouth, just a bunch of jumbled mumbles. Her cheeks had also begun to turn red.

Eventually she just stopped speaking and nodded slightly.

Gajeel gave her a weird look, then grumbled and turned to look at Mira with his arms crossed. "So, what do ya want for the groceries?" He asked.

"Groceries?" Levy asked curiously.

Mira turned towards her and smiled. "There are so many people here; we need to go shopping three times a week. Because of that, there is a roster where a different person shops for food each time. Today it is Gajeels turn." She said.

Levy nodded. "I see."

Gajeel started to walk out of the big top. "I will get the list after I'm ready." He said.

"Hold it; I want you to do something else for me today." Mira said, causing the man to stop in his tracks.

He turned around and scowled "What?" Levy rolled her eyes at him.

They both visibly shuddered when Mira gave them a very creepy, suspicious grin.

"I would like you to take Levy with you. The master said to take precautions, so I choose Levy." She said a little too sweetly.

Gajeel snorted. "Not gonna happen devil woman. What can _she_ do in a fight?" He said with frustration in his voice.

Levy just glanced at him. "_Is it a good idea to refuse Mira?"_

Her thoughts were answered when she saw a very scary looking Mira approach Gajeel. She then whispered something in his ear. Levy gawked when the man's pupils began to shrink as his eyes widened, before his face turned white.

The barmaid stepped back with a sweet smile on her face. Gajeel let out a little stutter before shaking his head to compose himself.

He then narrowed his eyes at Levy. "I'll see ya here in half an hour." He scowled before slouching out of the big top with a murderous glare on his face.

Levy looked at mirajane, who just smiled.

"Ah...Well I should get ready then." She said before quickly walking away to her caravan, not wanting to do anything to provoke the barmaid.

...

Levy sighed as she followed Gajeel into Magnolia's town centre for the groceries.

After freshening up at her caravan, she had met him outside of the big top. Now, after having left the circus, they were wandering around the city's streets to search for the food market.

Curious, Levy looked up at the juggler. "What exactly did Mira say to you?" She asked.

Gajeel frowned and sweat began to break out on his forehead. He then began to mutter something about being skinned alive.

She paled at the idea, but continued to follow after him along the cobbled streets.

"So, is there a library near the market?" She tried to be subtle, but he caught on.

"Don't ya go slacking off to read you're shitty books when we have things to do." He growled roughly before striding forward to the edge of the market.

Levy sighed and walked towards the food stalls which lined both sides of the streets.

Slowly they began to check the different food items off of Mirajane's list; it took up quite a bit of time trying to find everything, but after an hour they managed to get everything that the white haired woman had requested.

They began to walk back to Fairy Tail, their arms laden with grocery bags and a comfortable silence between them.

Gajeel obviously had most of the bags because he was bigger and could carry more. Levy could only manage three.

Feeling that the silence was becoming a little awkward, she decided to try and make conversation.

"So, will you be training this afternoon?" She asked.

He turned his head towards her. "Yea, gotta come up with some good routines that will work until Lily gets back." He said.

"You guys are obviously very close." She said, wanting to keep the conversation going.

Gajeel let a devilish grin spread across his face. "We have known each other for three years. We got along as soon as we met."

Levy grinned at him. "It is always great to meet new people that you get along with so well."

He nodded in reply, and they continued to walk along in silence.

"_So much for that conversation."_ She sighed and shifted the bags around in her arms.

After getting a better grip on the bags, she looked up and saw that Gajeel had been watching her. She cursed internally when her cheeks turned pink. She quickly turned her head away a little so that he wouldn't notice.

"Too much for ya to handle, midget?" The man was grinning down at her, and she huffed a little.

"I can manage perfectly fine." Levy said, slightly frustrated at his teasing.

He chuckled his unusual "Gihi" before leading her around the corner of a smaller street. He was taking her on a quicker route back to Fairy Tail, since their arms were loaded with food and they did not want to take the long way back.

He was walking slightly ahead of her, so when he abruptly stopped without any warning, she walked nose first into his back.

"Hey! Why did you sto-"

"Shut up for a second Levy." He hissed, cutting off her complaint.

Levy stared up at him, confused. "_Did he just call me by my name?!"_

Gajeel suddenly moved beside her and shoved her shoulder with his arm, indicating with his head to her right.

She turned her head and saw what he wanted her to do. Where his eyes were looking was a deep square hole in the brick building beside her. The hole had brick walls and a ceiling, with a door set in the other side.

"_Hide."_

She quickly moved so that she was hiding inside the hole and leaning up against one of the walls. Gajeel had followed her in and stood beside her so that her shoulder was pressed against his upper arm.

Levy watched him press a finger to his lips, signalling for her to keep quiet. She nodded and practically held her breath. "_What's going on?"_ She thought worriedly.

Her answer came soon after. Footsteps echoed off the cobblestones and around the brick buildings. Gradually they came closer until they were right next to them. She opened her mouth slightly when the footsteps stopped near them.

Gajeel locked his eyes with hers, and she could see that he was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. She wanted to say something that could help, but stayed quiet because the person outside sounded very close, and the man beside her looked like he didn't want to be noticed.

After what seemed like a minute, the footsteps continued to pass them. As the person walked past their hiding place, she could see a flash of black and white hair.

She continued to hold her breath until she could no longer hear the person.

Levy sighed and stepped away from the wall to leave when a firm hand wrapped around her shoulder, making her stop.

Gjaeel shook his head slightly at her, his expression serious. He then pushed her back against the wall before leaning out to check that the cost was clear.

Satisfied that there was no one else, he stepped out and she followed.

Before she could say a thing, he quickly turned towards her, the shopping bags crinkling as he did so. He had a mighty glare on his face that looked like it could melt a rock.

Levy stepped back from him slightly, afraid that he might lose it.

"I know that guy." He said. She could tell that he was trying hard not to run after the person and attack them straight away.

"From where, Gajeel? Why were we hiding?" She was becoming concerned. Even for him, this behaviour wasn't normal.

He growled and looked down at her before turning away. "From Phantom. Come on, we have to go. Now!" He said sharply.

Levy gasped. "Phantom? They are in Magnolia...Gajeel we have to warn everyone!" She said loudly.

The raven haired man surprised her by grabbing one of her bags and slinging it onto his back. "But...You already have four." She said, confused.

"I can manage this much, you would struggle with a third one." He said brusquely. "It would be too heavy for ya. Try to keep up."

Gajeel then broke into a steady run back to Fairy Tail. Levy was small, but she was fast when it came to running, and now thanks to the man in front of her she could run properly since two bags wasn't her weight limit.

Even if he occasionally turned his head to see if she was ok, she managed to keep up with him just fine.

...

Gajeel burst into the big top before Levy. When she came in, she saw that he had practically thrown the bags at Mirajane and had made his way to Makarov to tell him about what happened.

Levy gently placed the bags on the counter of the bar and turned around. Mira and a few other circus members were giving her a curious look, but she said nothing.

She could see Gajeel arguing with the Master beside the stairs to the second floor. He looked very pissed off, but Makarov was surprisingly calm.

Levy was a little surprised when both men turned to look at her before beckoning for her to come towards them. She obeyed and quickly walked over.

When she arrived Gajeel continued to speak in an urgent, quiet voice. "I know the guy. No mistake, it was defiantly him."

She frowned at him when he turned towards her, as if he was urging her to speak. The master was also waiting for her to say something.

"Um... I didn't see his face, but I did see black and white hair." She said, trying to recall anything that could help.

Makarov frowned. "Are you absolutely sure?" He asked Gajeel, who nodded.

"Right. Well in that case we should just-"

His words were cut off by the sudden, loud sound of people scraping their chairs back. Levy turned and frowned when she saw everyone standing up, staring at the entrance with concerned looks on their faces.

She walked to stand beside the nearest table and followed their gazes. What she saw made her eyebrows shoot upwards.

It was Loki, who had stumbled into the big top with a hysteric look on his face. He was panting heavily and bracing himself on his knees.

Grey walked towards him. "Loki, are you ok? What happened?" He asked seriously.

The strawberry- blonde man suddenly straightened up. "We have to get everyone inside here, now!" He shouted.

Levy stared at him, shocked. "_What the hell could have happened now?"_

Her answer came when Loki ran to the master, tripping as he went. When he made it to the old man, he looked so exhausted that she was worried he might collapse.

"We have to get everyone inside." He gasped.

The master and Gajeel stared at him.

"What the hell happened, playboy?" The raven haired man asked.

Loki stood up a little straighter; Levy could see a wave of panic flash through his eyes. "My lions... Someone let both of my lions out of their pen!" He shouted frantically.

His words were met with a large collective gasp from everyone. "_His...Lions? Those two big animals I saw in the performance have been set free?!" _Levy thought and let her mouth drop open.

"It must have been him." Gajeel growled angrily.

Makarov suddenly spoke loud and clear. "Loki, please set up a small group of people that can go and find everyone else around the circus. Make sure you are with them at all times, since you have experience with these animals."

Loki nodded and gathered a small group made up of Erza, Gajeel, Grey, Mystogan and Freed.

The man then turned "We need one more..." He said while scanning the big top for one last person.

Levy gaped when his eyes fell on her and pointed. "Levy, you are small and quick. Come on."

Loki then turned and began to walk out of the big top. The rest followed after him, but she just stood there in a state of shock.

"_What the...Me? Look for people when lions are around? Now way in hell is that happening."_ She thought, and quickly looked to see if she could make it to the second floor without anyone noticing.

Unfortunately, she was discovered by Gajeel as she started edging towards the stairs.

Levy squeaked when she saw him striding towards her. She started to run for it, but she was a second too late as he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"What the hell Gajeel! Put me down!" She screeched and began to slap his back to make him drop her.

He jerked his shoulder upwards, throwing her up into the air slightly and she yelped.

"Gihi. Ya know, this is kinda fun." He said in a teasing voice.

Levy decided to give up, since he was already walking out of the big top in the direction the others were heading in.

When he reached them, he grabbed her waist again and set her down. Levy huffed and angrily stomped away from him to stand next to Freed.

She noticed that Gajeel frowned a little when she stood beside the green haired man. She shrugged it off and turned to Loki, who had started to give instructions.

"The important thing here is to make sure we find the others, so we will need to search through the whole of Fairy Tail, excluding the big top." He said confidently.

"So, we are going to stay together, but if we somehow get separated and end up in a stare down with one of my Lions, you need to make sure you don't seem like prey. Just don't run, or that will provoke them to attack."

"So what do we do if one charges us?" Erza asked calmly.

"Make lots of noise, like shouting and clapping your hands. Also wave your arms around to make yourself appear bigger. Try and hold your ground and don't ever turn your back." He said, looking at all of them in the eyes. "If they do end up charging, make sure you are ready to fight back with everything you have."

Levy just looked to the heavens and began to plead internally. "_Please...don't let me die today!"_

"Okay, let's go." Loki said and began to walk around the stalls quietly.

Everyone began to move forward after him, taking the same route. Grey suddenly spoke.

"Oye Loki, what will they do if they see you?" He asked with concern in his voice.

The man continued to walk, but kept his voice low. "They have been around me for years and they know my scent, so I don't think they will harm me. However, lions are unpredictable so I have a plan."

Levy just sighed and followed after them.

...

As they moved along, they found circus members and told them about the situation before sending them to the big top with instructions on how to avoid a hungry lion.

They had just sent Elfman away also, when a loud scream echoed around the stalls they were standing next to.

Levy gasped, she knew who it was. "Lucy!" She screamed and before anyone else could stop her, she bolted through the tents and stalls to get to her friend, while the others called out her name in an attempt to make her stop.

"Oye, shrimp!"

"Levy!"

"Get back here you idiot!"

She ignored them and ran on towards her caravan where she was sure the scream had come from.

After racing around the different routes in a panic, Levy leaped out from a gap between two caravans before landing on the ground and skidding to a stop.

Her caravan was just ahead, and from what she could see, things were not looking good.

She gasped when she ran closer. From what she could see, her friend was standing a few metres from the caravan, which was now a bent pile of pink metal. Standing in front of Lucy, was Natsu. He was holding his left arm outwards, keeping her away whilst in his right hand he held his fire stick, which was currently bursting with flames at both ends.

Levy could see that Lucy was trembling in fear, while the pink haired man stood in a defensive stance before her. A few metres ahead of them was a large lion. It was growling like it was ready to attack.

"Lucy!" She yelled, before running to stand beside her friend. Lucy turned to face her and grabbed her in a large hug.

"Levy! Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening!" She wailed frantically.

Levy just slipped an arm around her friends shoulder in a comforting gesture before turning to look at Natsu.

"What happened?" She asked.

He snorted, though his face was deadly serious. "Was walking Lucy to her caravan, but when we arrived we only found a smashed up pile of scrap metal, and this thing."He said, referring to the large beast ahead of them.

"It charged me but at the last second, Natsu lit up his fire stick and jumped in front of me and whacked it, though it got his arm." Lucy said worriedly.

Levy took a closer look at Natsu, noticing for the first time the blood pooling near his foot. She looked over him to see where it was coming from and spotted three long, deep gashes along his left arm.

"Natsu, you shouldn't be doing this, you're injured!" Levy shouted towards the man, who shook his head, not once taking his eyes off the lion.

"If my friends are in danger, I will protect them with everything I have!" He shouted angrily, ignoring the blood that was dripping down his elbow.

She was about to speak when she felt a hard grip on her head. She was forcibly turned around to meet a pair of scary red eyes glaring straight at her. She gulped slightly.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Levy?!" Gajeel shouted. She flinched and tried to move back, but he quickly moved his hands to her shoulders and grabbed them hard.

Levy glared back at him. "I am not just going to just leave my friend when she is in danger!" She shouted back, making his eyes widen slightly.

He let go of her and stepped back with a "tch" before turning to look at Natsu. Levy looked behind Gajeel and saw the rest of the group racing to catch up.

"Salamander, you idiot. Step back or you're gonna pass out." He said roughly.

Natsu just shook his head. Levy saw that he had turned pale from the loss of blood and was starting to wobble.

"Fire, good thinking Natsu." Loki said, appearing beside them. "It's a good deterrent."

"Doesn't look like he can keep it up though." Grey said, as he ran to stand beside them.

He was followed closely by Mystogan, Freed and Erza.

"Natsu, take a break and give someone else your stick." The read head commanded.

Just as she spoke, the pink haired man dropped his stick and fell to his knees.

"Natsu!"Everyone shouted, with panicked looks on their faces.

Just as he was about to land face first in his own blood, Lucy grabbed his shoulders and dragged him back behind the others before she rested his head on her lap.

"Someone take him back to the big top." Loki said urgently.

Lucy stood up with Natsu draped on her back and started walking away. "Could someone come with me? Just in case the other one shows up." She said.

Freed turned and walked to the blonde. "I'll take him for now, let's go." The green haired man said, before moving Natsu onto his own back. He and Lucy then began to jog to the big top.

Lucy turned and gave Levy one last smile before running after Freed.

Levy gulped and turned back to face the Lion, which was staring at them hungrily. She was surprised when Gajeel suddenly stood in front of her before stepping into a defensive stance.

Erza was holding Natsu's stick, which was still alight, while Mystogan pulled out one of his large wooden sticks.

"Ok guys, what we need to do now is herd it back towards the pen, which is not too far from the big top." Loki said calmly.

Levy and everyone else nodded as they kept the large beast in their line of sight.

"There are too many of us right now, plus there is fire so he won't charge." The strawberry- blond man said confidently.

"Erza, manoeuvre yourself so that you are on his left, Mystogan, go behind him." Loki commanded.

Erza and Mystogan nodded and did what he said. They moved slowly, trying not to provoke the animal, which stayed strangely calm. When they were in position, Loki stepped towards it and began to pull out a medium sized bag from his pocket.

"You two." He said, motioning to Levy, Gajeel and. "I want you guys to walk ahead of me and warn anyone you come across to go to the big top. Grey, I will be facing him the whole time so I need you to guide me"

Levy, Grey and Gajeel all nodded, waiting for him to start leading the lion away.

Loki then pulled a large piece of raw meat from the bag and held it a few metres before the lion. The meat caught the animal's attention and it began to walk forward slowly.

Grey then grabbed Loki's shoulder and started walking in the direction of the pen.

Levy, who had begun to shake, started walking ahead with Gajeel.

Everyone slowly made their way between the caravans, not wanting to freak the lion out.

As they walked around the tents and stalls, Levy and Gajeel constantly bumped into people and warned them of the danger that was following them.

Eventually, they made it to the large animal pen. Levy looked up at it. "_Reinforced steel doors, very thick glass windows."_ She thought as she observed the large circular building.

The inside was a habitat large enough for the two lions to do practically whatever they wanted. Levy sighed happily, knowing that they weren't restricted and not being abused in any way.

Gajeel suddenly took her arm and pulled her out of the way so that Grey could open the door.

Once the door was open, Loki led his lion into the pen and gave him the chunk of meat before leaving and locking the door behind him.

Everyone grinned at each other. Loki then pushed his glasses higher up his nose and smiled a little before speaking.

"Alright guys, one down, one to go."

Levy and the others groaned.

"I forgot there was another one." Grey grumbled miserably, before sliding down the side of the pen to sit down.

Suddenly a low growling noise from nearby had everyone standing up straight. Levy automatically looked around to find the source of the noise before her eyes locked on to a pair of golden orbs, glaring at her from the shadows of a nearby stall.

Her body began to shake uncontrollably and she slowly began to edge backwards, until her back touched something hard but warm.

She quickly grabbed it and whimpered when the animal slowly began to stalk out of the stall. It's were eyes gleaming and it stared at her like some juicy piece of steak.

Levy was suddenly pushed back against the wall of the pen by Gajeel. She looked at her hands, which had a tight hold on his black t-shirt.

"_Ah...Was he the thing I was grabbing?"_ She thought.

She began to shake her head a little when her cheeks heated up. "_Not the time for this!"_ She scolded herself internally.

"Loki, hurry your damn ass up and deal with this thing!" Gajeel said loudly, when the animal began to walk closer.

Said man stepped in front of Levy and Gajeel and held out another piece of raw meat.

"Keep calm as much as you can." He said as he slowly began to step towards the door of the pen with the lion following him, while Erza and Mystogan took their places behind it.

Eventually, Loki managed to get the other lion back into the pen with the help of the others.

He sighed as he locked the door and smiled. "Well done everyone, thanks for your help." He said, before leaning up against the pen.

Levy smiled tiredly before sitting on the ground.

"You do only have two, right?" Gajeel asked gruffly.

Grey laughed a little before standing next to Erza, who had put the fire stick's flames out.

Levy then looked around. "Where is Mystogan?" She asked curiously.

Erza shrugged. "He disappears all the time."

A sudden thought ran through her mind and she bolted upwards. "Natsu and Lucy, I have to check on them!" she said and was about to run to the big top, but was stopped when someone hauled her back roughly by the back of her dress.

She yelled a little when she landed on her butt. When she looked up, Gajeel was standing over her and growling.

"Will ya stop freaki'n running around everywhere shrimp?" He said angrily.

Levy huffed up at him, but stopped when Grey joined him.

"I don't like saying it, but he is right. We will head back together." He said, before removing his shirt.

"Grey...Your clothes." Erza and Loki muttered.

He looked down at himself and cursed before he went to look for his shirt.

Gajeel rolled his eyes and began to walk away. Loki quickly helped Levy up and they all began to walk back to the big top, feeling exhausted yet happy that the lion ordeal was over.

...

Levy raced through the big top, not bothering to listen to Gajeel who was calling her nicknames and yelling for her to wait.

She ran straight to Mirajane, who had a very worried expression on her face.

"Mira! Where are Natsu and Lucy?" She asked the barmaid frantically.

She turned around and smiled sadly. "They are in the infirmary at the moment. Though I think you should wait a while before seeing them, since Natsu's situation seems to be quite serious."

Levy was worried about them, but since saying no to Mira was practically suicidal, she just nodded her head and sat down at the nearest table.

She let her head flop down onto the hard wood and sighed. "_I hope they are both okay."_ She thought worriedly.

She didn't raise her head when Gajeel sat opposite her.

"So, what are ya gonna do about your caravan?" She heard him ask.

"_The caravan...Oh my god, the caravan!"_ She thought as her head snapped up. An expression of absolute horror slid onto her face.

The place that she had been staying in, that held all of her precious books and belongings had been turned into a useless pile of twisted scrap metal after the lion had attacked it for some reason.

So now, she would have nowhere to stay.

Levy was so busy thinking about her dilemma that she didn't notice that Gajeel was staring at her with a frown on his face.

"Calm down bookworm, you're not the only person who just had their home destroyed." He said bluntly.

She glared at him. "What do you mean? Are you talking about Lucy?" She asked.

He shrugged. "From what I heard walking over here, a few other homes got messed up because of those shitty animals."

Levy groaned and leaned back in her chair to stare at the ceiling. "I am going to _murder_ those bloody lions later." She grumbled angrily.

She heard a cough from across the table and she looked at Gajeel.

She frowned at him. He was grinning at her, in a way that showed his sharp canines. He had a glint in his eye that looked mischievous, yet unsure.

"Well, there is one solution to your little problem." He said playfully.

Levy gulped. "_Oh no, what the hell is he planning? I don't like the sound of this..."_ She thought nervously.

Finally he sat up straighter in his chair and chuckled at her, before speaking.

"Gihi, you could stay at my place."

Levy could do nothing but sit there and gawk at him as his words sank in.

"WHAT?!"

**hehehe i wonder whats going to happen? :P hope you guys liked it, please review and i will see you next time!**

**cheerio!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! I finally uploaded chapter 11, i had a bit of writers block D: Thankfully, my dad has brought the laptop along :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Fairy tail and all characters belong to Hiro Mashima**

Gajeel cursed internally at Levy's little screaming session and frowned at the little bookworm before him. Her face now resembled a ripe tomato and she was fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"God damn it woman, control your voice!" He growled angrily before placing a pinky in his ear and wiggling it around to emphasize his point.

_"I am not _that _bad am I?!" _He thought when he saw her trying to avoid his gaze.

He leaned back against the bench and raised an eyebrow at the shrimp "Well, I guess that was a reaction I hadn't expected."

She looked up at him and glared a little. "Well, its not like I expected a suggestion like that either." She said, moving her hands up to cover her pink cheeks.

"With the situation being what it is now some people, including you, will have to stay with others until they can find replacement homes." Gajeel said before leaning forward to support his head on his hand. "Ya know your gonna have to stay with someone anyway."

He watched her glance around nervously before standing up with her nose wrinkled in thoughtfulness.

"I guess I will think about it…" She said as she moved away to order a drink.

Gajeel nodded, before turning away to stand up. Though when he started to walk away, he was stopped by her voice and he turned around to look back at the little bluenette. She was almost at the bar but had turned to face him, an expression on her face that he could not read.

"I will talk to you later, after you have done your training. Is that ok?" She asked quietly.

He nodded sharply. Seeing this, she turned back towards the bar to ask the demon lady about salamander.

Not wanting to look like a complete dork as he stood there staring after her, Gajeel quickly turned away and started to make his way out of the big top, ducking under a flying table as he walked outside.

He began to walk to the caravan to pick up the juggling clubs, thinking over the events from this morning.

When Gajeel had woken up in a drowsy haze behind the bar, he had felt as though there was something missing. He realized what it was after feeling around beside him and could not help feeling a little disappointed that Levy had left. Though, she had been drunk the night before, so he could understand that she obviously didn't remember a thing, and would be quite confused. He confirmed this when he heard her talking to Mira.

Thankfully he had been there to cut off the demon lady's sentence when she had begun to tell Levy about last nights snuggling session.

Unfortunately, Gajeel had not been able to escape quickly enough and the white haired devil managed to threaten him into taking Levy with him on the grocery trip.

Sure he had needed some help, but he hadn't wanted her to suggest the _shrimp_ of all people. The little woman could hardly lift a single bag without straining under the weight.

He growled as he walked through the nearby stalls, thinking about Mira's intentions. "_The evil woman is definitely up to something."_ He quickly became frustrated when he could not figure out what it was.

Gajeel turned his thoughts back to the grocery trip and scowled angrily when the shrimp had almost come face to face with one of the people he despised the most after his phantom ordeal. If Levy hadn't been there, he was sure that he would have charged straight at him and sent the man to an early grave.

The idea made him grin evilly and he quickly restrained himself so that he would not scare the crap out of anyone walking past.

Gajeel rounded the last corner and bounded up the stairs to his caravan before flinging the door open. After locating his clubs, he stepped out of his now rather cluttered home and strode to his training area.

"If this doesn't work, I'm gonna go to Onibas and drag Lily's sorry ass back here myself." He muttered before turning his thoughts to the issue with the lions.

There was no doubt that it hadn't just been a coincidence. He knew that shit head Jose was planning something, and having just seen one of his most trusted employees in Magnolia confirmed that something dodgy was going on.

_"That guy…He must have had something to do with those bloody animals."_ He thought as he began to weave his way through the long strands of grass that now surrounded him completely.

He stopped and stood on the downtrodden circle of dead plants and sat down. Thinking things through before training seemed like a good way to prevent distractions.

Gajeel leaned back and thought over the incident. He had enjoyed the opportunity to hold her waist and throw her onto his shoulder, though; maybe he had enjoyed it a little too much.

It had been the moment when she had suddenly run off into the path of potential danger to find bunny girl that had his heart lurching, with an unfamiliar and strange feeling settling in his chest.

The idea of her being mauled by some mindless beast had made him run after her without a second thought. The strange and sudden anger he had felt after finding her sort of safe with Blondie then left him feeling damned confused.

Gajeel frowned when he remembered placing his body before hers. He had no idea why he had done such a thing. Surely his own safety came first, but with the little bookworm around that seemed to be a completely different story.

He sighed. He was now lying down on the flattened grass and the realization that he was even more confused than before made him scowl unpleasantly. _"What the hell is wrong with me?_" He thought angrily.

Deciding to suck it up like a man, he stood up with two clubs in each hand and began to slowly flip them into the air. He would need to forget about throwing the objects to his partner, since the guy wasn't around.

"Lets get this shit over with." He muttered before throwing the metal juggling clubs into the air, deciding that he would try improvising a few new techniques that would actually work and try not to look like an idiot in the process.

…

"Fuck this!"

One of the clubs whistled as it flew through the air and landed with a heavy thunk in another grassy meadow further away, the other three landing a few meters beside it.

"Why cant I get this thing to god damned fucking work?!" He shouted angrily at the sky.

He then began to shout a whole list of curses at his surroundings, proving that he was officially pissed off to anyone unfortunate enough to be within his shouting range.

When he was finally out of breath, he sat down with an angry huff and grumbled a few more creative sentences that showed his very colorful language.

Almost a whole three hours had passed by and Gajeel had made barely any progress. He still had the habit of throwing his clubs to an absent partner. The fact that he would be reduced to a single person performance made him angry, and the realization that he would also need to minimize his rolls and flips just made it worse.

"_May as well just wait for Lily to get back."_ He thought miserably before moving to stand up to collect his clubs.

"G…Gajeel?"

The small voice made him whip around and he started to look for its source.

He spotted a flash of wavy blue hair hidden amongst the grass and he quickly approached it, already knowing whom it might be.

"What's up, shrimp?"

He grinned when her frowning face emerged from the tall plants.

"I suppose me telling you my name over and over still isn't going to get it into your thick skull." She said angrily before joining him in the training circle.

He raised a studded brow at her insult and shrugged. "Nah, I remember it. Nicknames are just more fun."

Gajeel frowned a little when she smirked at him. "Then why did you use my name before? That time in town and with the lion?"

He felt his eyes widen. Now that she mentioned it, he had called her by her name both times.

"Dunno shrimp, probably just slipped out." He said as he turned away from her curious gaze.

"Oh, ok. Well I had come to talk to you about the caravan thing but delayed it when I saw you're little…um, spaz attack." She said, referring to his angry moment.

He just grunted and went to look for his clubs. He could hear her following behind him by the noise of crunching grass under her feet.

"So, what about the caravan thing?" Gajeel asked while trying to navigate his way around the meadow.

He turned towards her, waiting for her to answer. She was biting her lip and resting her hands on her hips.

He found this pose very distracting. "_For gods sake Gajeel your meant to be_ listening_ to her, not ogling her!"_ This thought quickly made him pull his eyes up to look at her face.

"You mean what you said? About staying in your caravan?" She asked cautiously.

He just nodded, still recovering from his previous thoughts.

The shrimp suddenly sent him a dazzling grin. "Then I accept your offer, I would love to stay." She said happily.

Gajeel let a toothy grin settle on his face. "Sweet. Now…could ya help me look for my clubs? I sorta lost them somewhere."

She huffed a little at his lack of enthusiasm, before turning around to help him search for his clubs.

After a little while, he heard her calling his name and he made his way towards her voice. It still took him a little longer to actually find her since she was so short he could not see her head over the long grass.

When he did finally find her she had all four of his clubs. They were lying on the ground because she obviously had difficulty carrying them.

Gajeel smirked at her and she pouted back.

"Thanks bookworm." He said before picking up his clubs. She chased after him when he began to walk away.

"Wait! In return for me helping you, I would like you to help me." Levy said loudly.

He inclined his head towards her while still walking. "What?"

"I need help getting all of my stuff to your place, could you help me carry some of it?"

He frowned and turned to face her. He realized quickly that he should have just looked away because now he was caught in the shrimp's big, innocent eyes.

"Ah…um." Gajeel was lost for words as he stared into her golden brown orbs that looked like they could swallow him whole. "_Jesus Christ, is she even human?!"_ He thought in awe.

He realized that he was completely helpless when she started saying please in a really cute voice. _"Damn it!"_

"Fine! I'll do it." He growled in defeat. He tried to mask the happiness he felt when she started to jump up and down a little, looking like a kid at Christmas who just got their first bicycle.

"Okay, lets go!" Levy said before grabbing his arm and dragging him forward through the field, giggling and laughing happily.

Gajeel just sighed. "Shorty…you're going the wrong way."

He grinned when she stopped, her face turning a pretty shade of pink before turning towards him. "Maybe you should lead the way." She said sheepishly.

He grinned and unthinkingly grabbed her wrist gently before turning around and leading her the other way. He could swear he felt her pulse rise at the contact, and he could not stop the heat from flooding his ears.

He cursed his stupid blood pressure the whole way back to Fairy Tail.

…

"That lion sure fucked up your caravan" Gajeel said bluntly.

He watched Levy sigh sadly at the pile of dented pink metal that was once her home. It was covered in bite and claw marks. He guessed that the large dents were from the lion ramming into it.

"So how are we gonna get your stuff out?" He asked the shrimp, who seemed to be zoning out a little.

"I suppose the door wont be an option." She said sadly before moving towards the lump of scrap metal.

Gajeel let his eyes wander over it, ideas slowly popping into his head. "_The window…is it smashed in?"_ He thought before walking to stand next to the bookworm.

He frowned when he saw one of the largest windows. It had a large crack in the center and looked big enough for someone like him to fit through.

"Listen shrimp, I have an idea." He said, looking down at the bluenette. She turned to gaze up at him, her expression hopeful.

"What is it?"

"Can I borrow your headband?" He asked, avoiding her question.

She frowned at him curiously before raising her arms to untie the long piece of orange fabric from around her head.

He took the headband from her, his hand brushing against hers as he did so. Thankfully, his ears didn't heat up this time. However, her cheeks flushed slightly.

Gajeel decided to ignore it and began to unfold her headband so that it was wide enough. He then began to wrap it around his hand and knuckles', making sure that the material was placed evenly.

"Just don't freak out, ok?" she nodded, looking confused.

He approached the window and motioned for her to step back and she obeyed.

"Make sure you cover your eyes." He ignored her wide-eyed look when she realized what he was about to do.

"Gajeel, wai-"

She stopped abruptly when Gajeel suddenly pulled his arm back and thrust it into the window. The glass shattered at the impact and he quickly covered his eyes to stop them from being cut by any stray shards.

He stepped back and grinned down at his handiwork. His smile didn't last long when he saw that a he had a medium sized cut above his wrist, which had stayed unprotected.

"Gajeel, you idiot what were you thinking?!" He heard Levy screech before she barreled into him, almost making him fall on the ground.

The bluenette had her arms wrapped around one of his, so that she was clinging to him.

He snorted. "Calm down shrimp, its just a cut."

He was surprised to see her glare up at him. "But it could have been much worse!" She shouted.

Before he could react, she was holding his wrist and examining the small cut. He tried to pull away but she latched on firmly. "Let me look at it." She said sternly.

He just sighed and watched as she poked and prodded at it, before unwrapping her headband from her head.

Gajeel frowned at her. "Oye, what are you doing? Your gonna ruin it." He began to tug his arm away as she started to wrap the material around his wrist.

"Stop it, it's bleeding and this is the only thing I have that can stop it." She said seriously. Her blue bangs, which were no longer being held back by her headband, were now falling over her face.

"Its not even bleeding that much!" He scoffed, ignoring the fact that it had actually started to bleed more than before.

"Will you just hold still already?" She said angrily.

Gajeel growled impatiently but held still as she continued to wrap the fabric around his wrist.

When the shrimp finally wrapped the last of the material, she tied a small knot and stepped back. "That should work for now." She said.

He looked down at his wrist that was now firmly tied with her orange headband. The blood had already started to stain it and he felt bad that he was ruining an item of her clothing.

Levy spoke as if she was reading his thoughts. "I have plenty more where that came from."

He looked down at her and grinned. "At least its not a girly colour."

She smiled at him before turning towards the former caravan.

"Since you broke the window, I'll go in." He panicked a little when she began to walk towards the smashed window.

Gajeel grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. She shot him a confused glare and he spoke quickly.

"Forget it shrimp, I'm gonna go." Before she could protest, he quickly made his way to the metallic wreck and began to step onto the battered surface.

He grabbed the overhang at the top of the window and lifted himself inside. When he felt his feet touch the floor, he crouched and turned around. Gajeel could see Levy's face appear in the space before him and he grinned.

Her face was contorted into an expression of anger and frustration, but before she could get a word out to start lecturing him, he reached a hand through the window and pressed the tips of his fingers against her lips.

She was silenced immediately, and he let a devilish grin spread when he saw her face and neck both turn a dark red. He quickly removed his hand when she started squeaking.

"Let me know what's yours and I'll hand it to ya through the window." He said, letting a serious expression slip onto his face.

She nodded with a small "Okay" and he crouched down further so that he could make his way around the demolished caravan.

"_Giant shitty cat sure did some damage."_ Gajeel thought as he examined his surroundings.

The bookcase across from him had collapsed and there were books scattered everywhere. The beds in both corners were the only things holding the roof up and there was water on the floor, which seemed to be coming from what was once a bathroom.

Gajeel suddenly remembered that water and books did not mix and he quickly scrambled forward and began to shove as many of the books out of the way of the spreading puddle as he could. He winced a little when the action made his wrist sting.

"Yo bookworm, incoming!" He hollered before throwing books out of the smashed window. He smirked a little when he heard her shouting curses at him and something about books being her reason for living.

Once he was sure all of the books were outside, he began to search for anything else that seemed important. The first thing he came across was a set of draws. He wrenched open the top of the battered draws and did a double take.

This draw was full of underwear. _Ladies_ underwear. Aka, bras and panties.

Gajeel felt all of the blood drain from his face and he bolted away as fast as he could, back towards the window. "_No way am I going near _those_!"_

He began to call out for Levy, knowing that if someone like Erza saw him doing something like this, he would either be sent to hospital in a critical condition or slaughtered.

"Ah…Shrimp. I may need your help with this one." He said nervously.

Levy popped her head through the gap in the metal and frowned. "Why?"

Sighing, Gajeel leaned in a bit closer. "Top drawer?"

She seemed to suddenly grasp what he was on about and her mouth fell open with a small popping noise.

"Ah…ok." Levy said quietly before climbing onto the side of the caravan.

She slipped her legs through the window and Gajeel grabbed her waist to steady her descent.

When her feet toutched the floor, he placed his hand on her head to stop it from hitting the low roof.

Soon they were both crouching and she crawled towards her draws to empty them of her clothes.

"I'll check the bathroom." Gajeel muttered and he slipped through the remains of the bathroom door.

He grabbed a load of towels and toiletries and threw them into a large plastic bag that he found in a nearby draw. Suddenly, Gajeel heard a gasp and a little yelp. He quickly flung himself into the main room and his eyes widened.

Levy was kneeling by her bed and holding a small, trembling bundle. He crawled over to her and raised a studded eyebrow.

"What the hell is that?"

She turned towards him and held up a small white dog. He almost immediately recognized it as Blondie's dog.

"That must have been what made the lion go nuts." She murmured as she gently scratched it behind the ears.

Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her. "Have ya got everything?"

She nodded and pointed at a duffel bag near the window. "I also grabbed Lucy's things so that I can give them to her later." She said before wiggling towards the window, with a bit of difficulty because the trembling dog was still in her arms.

He followed and picked up the bags before throwing them out of the window. He then turned towards the shrimp.

"I'll get out first then I will lift you, got it?" She nodded and he grabbed the upper ledge again before swinging his legs out so he ended up sitting on the sill. Gajeel then bent his head through the window and threw himself so that he landed on the ground in a crouch.

He turned back to the caravan and knelt in a large dent below the window before lowering his arms down to wrap around levy's waist again.

Gajeel raised his arms up, pulling her with him so that she now sat on the outer windowsill. "Ya ok?" He asked and she nodded.

He stepped away and she slid down the side of the caravan and landed on her feet before setting the dog on the floor.

He stretched before turning around to look at the huge mess he had made.

"We got a lot of stuff to clean up." He muttered.

Gajeel turned to see the shrimp placing the books in small piles and he walked over to help.

She sighed when he stood beside her. "So, how are we going to do this? Your caravan is near the other side of the circus, so I don't see how we can do this in one go."

He frowned. "I suppose we are gonna have to take a little at a time. Todays show starts at five, and it's four fifteen now. We have to make sure we finish this quickly."

He growled at the little dog that had begun to yap at his feet. He wasn't a dog person.

"Hey, don't be mean to Plue." The bookworm said before bending down to pat the dog.

"Plue? What kind of name is that?" Gajeel asked as he hefted the duffel bag over his shoulder and lifted a pile of books.

He watched her frown before she swept her blue bangs behind her ears. "I don't know, you will have to ask Lucy."

He shrugged and began to walk away, looking over his shoulder as he did so to make sure Levy was following him.

…

Gajeel sat back against his caravan's wheel and puffed a little. His home was partly surrounded by the shrimp's stuff, mostly books.

They had both decided that they would place all of her stuff outside just to make their lives easier. So Levy had left to return Lucy's things, including her annoying dog and he had decided to take a break while she was gone.

"_Things are really not going my way this week."_ He grumbled to himself, before he started fiddling with the make shift bandage on his wrist.

The headband now had large red blotches showing the shape of his cut. Even though she said she had more, Gajeel couldn't help feeling kind of unhappy that he had ruined something that had suited her so well.

_"I should probably wash it."_ He thought before he unwrapped the headband from his wrist and shoved it into his pocket. He looked over his cut. It wasn't really that big now that it had stopped bleeding.

"I'm back."

Gajeel quickly shoved his hands into his pocket, not wanting her to see that he had removed her headband.

He let a grin spread over his face and he stood up. "How's the salamander and bunny girl?"

She frowned. "Lucy is ok, just a little traumatized. Natsu has his arm in a sling and won't be able to do some of his tricks."

Gajeel nodded and moved to his door. "Ya want to have a look before we put everything inside?" He asked her.

He let out a "Gihihi" when he saw her grin up at him while nodding her head.

He led her up the stairs, before stopping in front of his door. He looked down at the bookworm who was standing next to him.

Gajeel chuckled again before flinging open his door and stepping aside to allow her to take a look.

He watched her frown a little when she peered inside.

"Well, it could do with a good clean."

Gajeel let out a low grumble. "What did you expect? I am a guy." He said before turning around to pick up some of her books.

He heard her laugh and he glimpsed her bending down to help him.

"We will have to set some rules you know." She said.

Gajeel just growled a little more as he lifted up the pile of books. _"The joys of living with a woman."_ He sighed to himself as they began to place the belongings inside his caravan.

**Well thats the end of chapter 11, thanks for reading! :D**

**Cheerio!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello again everyone! I have returned to my beloved computer and have uploaded chapter 12! I hope you guys like it, please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**Oh and a big thank you to those who nominated my story for ****the best fairy tail fanfic of 2012**** I am truly grateful :D**

**Fairy tail and all characters belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima! :D**

_"It looks like…a bit of a dump."_ Levy thought as she peered into Gajeel's caravan.

Not wanting to offend the guy who had offered her a place to stay for the time being, she quickly changed what she was about to say into "Well, It could do with a good clean."

That was just putting it lightly. From what she could see, there were various items of clothing strewn around everywhere and his bed had been left unmade. The curtains were still closed, leaving the room in a dim light. Each of his draws was in their own stage of being opened or closed and the few shelves opposite his bed were covered in various nick knacks.

The only remotely clean area she could see was the bed opposite to Gajeel's one. "_I'm guessing that is Lily's side of the room."_ Levy thought as she turned her head to face Gajeel's retreating back.

"What did you expect? I am a guy." He grumbled as he began to lift up some of her books.

"_That's a relief." _She giggled as she quickly leaped down the stairs after him and also bent down to start lifting her belongings.

Levy soon turned her thoughts to the bathroom_. "Oh, we will have to set some rules."_ She thought when she began to imagine all sorts of awkward situations that may occur during her stay.

She quickly repeated this to Gajeel, who just frowned and growled something unintelligible as he lifted the books and carried them into the caravan, before dumping them on Lily's bed.

Levy decided to follow his lead and also placed her things on the springy mattress.

They both worked in a comfortable silence until everything was either on Lily's bed or surrounding it. She calculated that this whole process took fifteen minutes at least.

When they were sure that everything had been placed inside, Levy collapsed on the floor with a large sigh and smiled. "_It will take a while to sort everything, but at least I will have something to do." _Her blue bangs were now being held back by a red headband, replacing the one she had given to Gajeel.

The floor jolted slightly and Levy looked up to see that Gajeel had also flopped on the floor and was leaning against his bed. He looked quite tired, which was not surprising considering the day's events.

She watched as he leaned back and closed his eyes. He had crossed his arms and had one leg extended with the other folded in.

_"Should I ask him now…?Ah, what the hell."_ She thought.

"So, about those rules…" Levy grinned when he opened one eye and grimaced.

"What kind of rules shrimp?" He grumbled.

"Just a couple of simple ones."

Gajeel leaned forward slightly and frowned in thought. "Okay dwarf, you stay away from my side of the caravan, and I will stay away from yours, simple enough for ya?"

Levy nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Also when one of us wants to change, we do it in the bathroom."

Gajeel raised both his eyebrows at her and she glared. "What? I don't want my pervy roommate peeking on me." She grinned when he growled at her and stood up.

"I thought I told ya I aint a perv!" He shouted angrily.

Levy just giggled. She found his reactions hilarious.

He glared at her again and she managed to stop her laughing briefly to say, "We obviously do our own laundry."

Gajeel frowned and nodded his head. She guessed that neither of them wanted to touch each other's dirty clothes.

"_Speaking of dirty clothes." _Levy looked around at the mess on the floor that she was currently sitting in and quickly stood up. She brushed away some imaginary dust and frowned at him. "_Okay, this mess is becoming intolerable."_

Preparing to lecture Gajeel, she placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him.

"Since the mess here is your doing, you clean it. I don't want my books near all your dirty stuff. Refuse and you will regret it," She said firmly.

Gajeel made a scoffing noise before walking to stand over her with his arms folded over his chest, trying to seem intimidating.

"I don't take orders from a shrimpy bookworm. Besides, this is still _my_ caravan, so I will clean _my _mess when _I _feel like it." He bent down so that he was at her eye level and grinned. "And right now, I _don't_ feel like it, so the mess is gonna stay, whether you like it or not."

"_Two can play at _that _game."_ Levy thought before giving the man before her an evil grin of her own. "You have been warned." She said before stepping around him so that she was facing his bed.

She could feel Gajeel'squestioning glare on her back and she smiled wider. Levy then roughly began to kick some of the clothes that were littering the floor, and she watched with a smug smile when he roared in anger.

"What the hell do ya think your doing?!"

Levy ignored him and shouted "Oh, how clumsy of me!" as she kicked some more of his belongings onto his side of the room.

"Stop touching my stuff!" He began to stomp towards her and she quickly ducked while throwing more of his things when he attempted to grab her by her scruff again.

When she was sure that her side of the room was officially Gajeel-clutter free, she stopped and stood next to the bed that was temporarily hers.

"I told you that you would regret it." She said as she turned towards Gajeel.

Levy suddenly let out a surprised yelp when she found herself face to face with hernew roommate, who looked very pissed off.

"Shit." She cursed when she felt her cheeks heat up for the umpteenth time that day. She quickly backed away and climbed across her bed to get to the front door. Before Levy could rush outside, she felt a hard yanking sensation on the back of her dress and the next thing she knew, she was in the air. Again.

"_Crap, I left it too late!"_ she thought when she felt the room spin as Gajeel spun her around so that she was facing him.

He was now _very_ pissed off. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth was twisted into an angry scowl.

Gajeel leaned forward so that his nose was barely touching hers and she instinctively flinched backwards.

"No one touches my stuff. Got it shrimp?" He growled menacingly.

Levy felt his breath on her face as he spoke and she gave him a single nod of the head. He saw this and abruptly dropped her. She let out a little "Kyah!" when she landed on her butt for the second time that week.

She let out an angry huff from her place on the floor before standing up. Levy felt air brush her face as Gajeel suddenly walked out of the caravan, probably to get some dinner.

_"It would have to be from one of the stalls since the big top would have turned back to what it originally looked like."_ She thought to herself as she stood up and headed towards her bed.

Levy let out a loud sigh before she jumped onto the bed and opened the curtains to let some early evening light in, before pulling her wallet out of her red satchel.

She checked the contents. "Looks like there is enough." She muttered to herself before walking out of the caravan and closing the door behind her. She decided to organize her things when she got back later.

As Levy walked to the food stalls, she thought about Gajeel's little anger management problem. She understood that one could be quite possessive over their own belongings, but not _that_ possessive. She didn't mind being yelled at that much, or threatened. She was used to it.

"_I guess I shouldn't have provoked him like that." _She thought as she walked past Cana's tent. Levy waved to the woman, who was sitting outside awaiting customers.

Cana wiggled her fingers and grinned. "Hey chicky, how are things?"

Deciding that the food could wait a little, Levy walked towards the brunette and smiled.

"Could be better I suppose. How are you?" She asked.

Cana grinned. "Me? Oh, I'm just dandy. Been enjoying my mornin' with Laxus and my other boyfriend."

Levy stared at her. "O-other boyfriend? Cana…Is Laxus okay with this?" She asked worriedly.

Cana just smiled mischievously. "Not even my dear Laxus can keep me away from my beloved alcohol."

"Oh…right." Levy said, slightly embarrassed. "_Of course she would be in a relationship with beer."_

The woman before her suddenly had a serious look on her face. "So, have ya found a place to stay? I heard that Loki's lions got loose."

Levy sighed. "I suppose the whole of Fairy Tail knows?"

Cana shrugged. "Heard it from Lucy. Sounds like your caravan got pretty smashed up."

She scratched her neck in thought. "Gajeel offered me a place to stay until me and Lucy find another caravan. I am not sure of what Lucy is planning." Levy briefly forgot that she was currently talking to one of the biggest gossips in the whole circus.

Cana suddenly had a strange glint in her eyes a creepy smirk on her face that Levy did not like the look of.

_"really_? That _is_ interesting. Please tell me more on the subject."

She didn't fall for it and began to slowly back away. "I really would love toCana but I have to grab some food before the stalls close." She said frantically.

Cana didn't seem to buy it and she stepped forward to sling her arm around Levy's shoulder. She then got very close to her face, making her squeak in surprise.

"My my, someone getting a little flustered? Could something have happened that I should know about?" The brunette purred with a large grin on her face.

Levy began to squirm. "N-no Cana. Nothing happened, H-he just gave me a place to stay!" She stuttered nervously.

The brunette finally released her and chuckled. "Alright don't get your panties in a twist. But, remember my prediction right?"

"Yes Cana I remember." Levy sighed. She then began to turn away with a small wave over her shoulder.

"And I am not forgetting the alcohol incident from yesterday!" She shouted over her shoulder.

Levy heard a small laugh as she walked away towards the stalls and she smiled. "_As if I would forget a prediction like _that."

…

Levy chomped down on her Panini and let out a little groan when the chicken, bacon and cheese melted in her mouth.

She was currently sitting at a small table outside a stall that was a smaller equivalent of a bakery. From her seat she could watch the large crowd make their way into the big top, and a couple of people performing outside on stilts. She could also occasionally spot a flash of pink hair and a few sparks of fire.

"_That would be Natsu." _Levy thought as she hungrily demolished her Panini.

She almost choked on her food in surprise when someone hugged her from behind.

"Levy! I have been looking for you!"

Levy grinned at the familiar voice and patted one of the arms that were wrapped around her shoulders.

"Lucy! How have you been?"

Said woman released her and plonked herself down on the seat opposite her.

"I feel much better than I did this morning. Did you find somewhere to stay? You left before I could ask." The blonde said cheerfully.

Levy sighed. "_Here we go."_ "Well…Actually, yes I did."

Lucy leaned forward and grinned. "Oh? Who with?" She asked curiously.

"Um, Gajeel offered me a place to stay and I accepted."

Her words were met with an excited squeal from Lucy that made her cover her ears.

"Oh my god! Levy, why didn't you say this earlier?! Details, I want details right now." Lucy said hyperactively.

Levy leaned back in her chair and flinched. "Well…there really is nothing to say…"

Lucy suddenly leaned forward across the table so that her face was directly in front of hers, not realizing that she was giving the people behind Levy a great view of her chest.

"_Do these guys not know the meaning of personal space?!" _She squealed internally as the blonde gripped her forearms to stop her from moving further away.

Levy had no choice but to look right at Lucy, who was gazing at her with a determined look on her face.

"Details. Now. I will not let go until I am completely satisfied with your answer, so start at the beginning!"

She sighed and decided that she would start with Cana's prediction and continue on from there.

…

Wow…Do you know what this could mean?" Lucy asked excitedly.

Levy just sighed. "Enlighten me, oh wise one." She said sarcastically.

The blonde then placed her hands on her cheeks and gazed into the distance. She had an odd twinkle in her eyes that made her look like an obsessed fan girl.

"True love!" She squealed and literally began to wiggle like a jelly in her seat. Levy rolled her eyes at her friend, who was turning out to be a hopeless romantic.

"I highly doubt it." She said and began to stand up.

They had been talking for a while, and the crowd had just exited the big top for the intermission. During that time, Lucy had practically threatened her for every single detail that involved her and Gajeel.

Levy sighed and began to walk around, not having anything better to do. She almost immediately felt the blonde's presence beside her and she smiled. It was nice to have a friend like Lucy around, even if she was quite eccentric.

"Oh, why don't we see what Juvia is up to?" Levy asked as they rounded a corner, in the direction of said woman's stall.

Lucy nodded and let out a mischievous grin that had her leaning away slightly.

"Good idea."

They spotted Juvia in the middle of closing up her stall. Water dunking did look like fun, but it looked quite nasty during the winter.

The other bluenette turned her head and smiled at them. "Good evening, Juvia was just going to get an ice cream. Would you two like to come?"

Levy grinned at the woman. _"She is such a likeable person."_ She thought as both girls nodded.

All three then began to walk towards Grey's stall. Unfortunately, Levy found herself squished between the two other women, and soon she was being bombarded with questions about her and Gajeel from both sides.

"Guys, really there is nothing going on!" She squealed after being asked questions so rapidly that she had no time to answer them.

Lucy and Juvia just giggled and tugged her along with them.

"I really think that you have become the victim of denial. You need to become one with your feelings!" Lucy squealed. "Isn't that right, Juvia?"

Said woman nodded and placed her hands on her cheeks. "What Lucy says is true; Juvia has embraced her feelings for her Grey-Sama. Though, he hasn't acted on his yet." She said sadly.

Levy rolled her eyes. "You guys are just hopeless romantics. Cant you worry about your own love lives."

Both women just laughed and Levy found herself quickening her pace with them as they neared Grey, who had begun to close his stall.

Before Levy could even blink, Juvia had latched herself to the man's arm, much to his displeasure.

"Grey- Samaaaa, would you please make us three ice creams?" The woman cooed.

Grey began to squirm in Juvia's death grip but still managed to flash a smile at Levy and Lucy.

"Fine, but only if you let go!" Grey said sternly.

Juvia sighed and reluctantly released him before she leaned against the counter top.

Grey stepped back into the stall and grinned. "So girls, what flavors would you like?"

"Strawberry please." Lucy said quickly. Levy was also about to speak but stopped herself when she saw that Grey had once again decided to relieve himself of his clothing. "_He did that in a few seconds!" _She thought. She was amazed, and slightly disgusted.

Thankfully the counter was blocking anything below the waist, but she still averted her eyes as she wanted to preserve as much of her innocence as she could.

"Ehem…Grey, you have lost your pants." Levy said before grabbing the back of Juvia's coat and dragging her away. The other bluenette had been staring at him.

"Ah shit not this _again_!" The dark haired man shouted in frustration. He then began to search for his clothes. Thankfully, he had the decency to cover his lower areas with a cardboard box.

Lucy suddenly burst out laughing and Levy stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

The blonde caught her look and giggled. "The box is printed with **may contain nuts**!" She squealed before leaning on Juvia's shoulder for support.

Levy glanced at the box and also began to splutter with laughter. "_Oh god, this guy has the worst luck!" _She thought when she saw Lucy take out her camera.

Poor Grey was still looking for his clothes and didn't notice the camera flashes. When Lucy was finished, she was almost immediately bowled over by Juvia.

Levy giggled when she overheard their murmured discussion. It seemed Juvia wanted a copy of the photos, but Lucy wanted money in exchange.

"Okay! Sorry Levy, what flavor did you want?"

She turned her head back to Grey, who was now fully dressed, and smiled.

"Could I have vanilla please?"

The man nodded and leaned against the counter. "And what would you like, Juvia?"

Levy raised both eyebrows when she saw Juvia blush. "Um, Juvia would like blueberry please." She said quietly.

She saw Grey lift the corner of his mouth in a smile. Juvia saw this and looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

"Blueberries have a nice colour. It suits you." He said before turning around to make their frozen treats, oblivious to what his comment did to his admirer.

Levy curiously watched Juvia. The woman's mouth was wide open and she had a dreamy look in her eyes.

She shook her head before she turned back towards Lucy. The blonde had put her camera away and was now waiting patiently for her ice cream.

A sudden thought occurred to her and she quickly opened her mouth to talk to her friend.

"Hey Lucy. Where are you going to stay now?" She asked.

Lucy almost immediately started to fiddle with one of her sleeves and refused to meet her gaze.

"Ah…well, Natsu offered me a place. So, I…um."

Levy grinned. _"Revenge!"_

"With Natsu? Could this be what I think it is?" She asked slyly.

She widened her smile when Lucy's face turned a deep red. Her friend then began to shake her hands in front of her face.

"No no no! It's not what you think, He has a spare bed!" She screeched loudly, earning the attention of Juvia, who soon picked up on the conversation.

"Why Lucy, Juvia thinks that you should embrace your feelings also."

Levy shared a smirk with Juvia when Lucy began to deny everything with confused and embarrassed mumbles. It was almost a shame that they had to stop when Grey called them because their ice creams were ready.

Levy licked the top of her vanilla treat and checked her watch. "_Quarter to nine already." _She thought in surprise.

She turned towards her friends and smiled when she saw Juvia begging Grey to share her ice cream with her, with Lucy cheering her on.

"It's getting late guys, so I had better head back." Her words made the three people turn towards her and she was soon enveloped in a group hug that became awkward because of their ice creams.

She smiled and returned the affectionate gesture, but was soon released since the others also had places to be.

Juvia suddenly stepped forward and smiled. "Juvia will walk with you since her home is near Gajeel's."

Levy smiled and accepted the woman's offer. With a parting wave to Lucy and Grey, they both began to walk back to their living areas.

…

Levy found that her walk with Juvia had been quite pleasant. Most of the time they had walked in a companionable silence and the few bits of conversation they had shared had mostly been about different people in Fairy Tail.

They were now standing before Gajeel's caravan, talking quietly in case the man was asleep inside.

"Juvia should not have left Grey-Sama with her love rival." Juvia hissed angrily.

Levy sighed and placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I think Lucy prefers Natsu rather than Grey. Don't worry about it"

Juvia looked down at her with a frown, and then she smiled. "Juvia thinks that you are right."

She suddenly pulled her into a hug. Levy hugged back, though she was slightly surprised.

"Juvia believes that Gajeel does need friends. He does not show it and is quite rough, but Juvia knows him well enough to see that he cares for the people close to him."

The taller woman then stepped back and beamed at her. "Juvia has seen that he especially cares for you."

Levy just stared at her. "Cares for me?! In what way?"

Juvia just smiled. "Juvia will leave now. Have a good night."

The woman then turned around and walked away, leaving Levy alone feeling tired and very confused.

"_What the heck did she mean?" _She thought as she walked up the stairs and opened the door.

She stepped inside and quickly looked around the room. There seemed to be no other signs of life in this part of the caravan, though the bathroom door was closed and she could hear the shower going.

"Right, I had better change quickly." Levy muttered to herself.

She turned towards her bed and groaned at the large mess that had taken over her sleeping area. There were piles of books everywhere, and Levy could just barely see her duffel bag that contained her clothes.

She quickly started piling the heavy books next to the set of draws at the end of her bed. It took a little effort but soon her bed was clear of mess and she could easily see her bag.

Levy smiled and pulled out her pajamas, which really was just a purple t-shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants.

She quickly stripped off her dress and replaced it with the t-shirt. She was about to pull on the pants when suddenly the worst possible thing happened.

The bathroom door opened.

Slowly, Levy turned her head and gulped at Gajeel who was standing in the doorway to the bathroom. He was wearing a pair of loose pants, but was also shirtless so she ended up with an eyeful of his muscular, tanned torso and chest. He had a towel in one hand and his long hair was falling down his back in long, black waves. She blushed and tried to avert her gaze.

Levy realized that Gajeel was also staring at her with his eyes wide open and he had a expression of absolute shock on his face. She looked down and squeaked, her face turning a deep shade of red as she blushed harder.

She was only wearing her t-shirt and panties so she was giving him a full view of her thighs.

"Shit!" Levy shouted she grabbed her pants and attempted to cover herself with them. She heard the door slam and she looked up to see that that bathroom door was closed, Gajeel having locked himself inside.

"_Oh my god, oh my god! I can't believe he saw me like that! It could have been much worse, but still!" _Levy thought as she yanked on her sweat pants and tugged her headband out of her hair, throwing it aside as she leaped into her bed.

She buried herself underneath the soft sheets and turned so that she was facing away from the bathroom door.

Levy pulled her knees up and hugged her waist. "_Why is my heart beating so fast?"_ She thought. She frowned at the hard thrumming feeling in her chest as her heart literally crashed against her ribs.

She sighed and closed her eyes as she breathed slowly to control her heart rate. "_From now on, I will only change in the bathroom." _Levy thought.

Slowly, she felt her muscles relax and her breathing slowed down so that she was snoring slightly. Levy then felt herself drift off as the exhaustion from the days events finally caught her, and soon she was fast asleep.

Because of her sudden state of hibernation, Levy didn't hear the door to the bathroom open. Neither did she hear the heavy footsteps of her roommate as he collapsed on his bed before sleep also took its hold on him for the night.

**And thats the end of chapter 12, hope you guys enjoyed it! I really want a panini now XD**

**Anyway, please review and I hope you liked it! Oh, and voting has started for OoComputerFreakoO's competition for the best fairy tail fanfiction of 2012. Everyone has 4 votes each. I would really love to get some votes, but there are tons of amazing stories that have been nominated, so vote for them also! Thank you everyone for sticking with me so far, you guys have been amazing! :D**

**Cheerio!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello everyone, here is chapter 13! sorry it took so long. I start school next week so i wont be able to update as often as before, sorry! D: **

**fairy tail and these characters belong to Hiro Mashima!**

To say that he was shocked was the understatement of the century. In fact, if he hadn't run back into the bathroom, he was sure that his brains would have dissolved and melted out of his nostrils right then in front of Levy.

Gajeel was lying face down on his pillow with his arms lying underneath it. The shrimp had gotten up a few minutes ago to take a shower, though he decided that feigning sleep was a good idea. After last night, he could tell that things were going to get _very _awkward.

He groaned into his pillow and rolled over to scowl at the ceiling. "_A nosebleed. A fucking god damned _nosebleed. _Great way to handle the situation, Idiot."_ He growled under his breath.

His barging out of the bathroom shirtless hadn't been much help either. Gajeel was _not_ a pervert. In fact, the first thing he saw of his little roommate was her bright red face. That wasn't much of a surprise; her face always seemed to be going red.

What had made all the blood vessels in his nose burst was that he had been able to see every single inch of the back of her pale legs, right up her thighs to her under wear.

"_Oh shit, oh shit, crap balls! I can see her legs and her undies! She is gonna think I'm a perv, I'm in deep shit now!"_ Were his first thoughts when the blood had begun to drip out of his nose.

Thankfully, Levy was too busy screaming and trying to cover herself up to notice, so he had taken his chance and rushed straight back into the bathroom so that he could clean up the mess he had made.

Gajeel had sighed in relief when he re-entered the main room to find Levy asleep. Too exhausted to do much else, he had collapsed onto his bed. He actually hadn't slept that well because Levy had made a racket in her sleep. He made a mental note to invest in some ear plugs later.

He groaned into his arm which was lying across his face and sat up. "_What the hell. There are always chicks here showing off more body bits than they should. I never bust up my nose over them, so why shorty?!"_

He jumped out of bed and quickly searched the floor for some clean clothes. Not wanting a repeat of last night, he quickly yanked on a pair of baggy jeans and a blue t-shirt before striding out of his caravan.

Gajeel ran a hand through his messy bed hair as he walked to the big top. Autumn was almost in full swing now. There were red leaves covering every inch of grass wherever he walked and it was getting cold.

"_Asking her to stay with me was a bad idea…Why did I even do that for Christ's sake?!" _

He recalled the moment when he had blurted the first thing that had come to his mind while sitting across from the bookworm yesterday morning and he grimaced.

"Oh right…because you're an idiot." Gajeel muttered to himself angrily.

He kicked an empty, battered beer can as he entered the big top and walked towards the bar, ignoring the murmured greetings from some of the tables. He sat at the counter and called for the demon woman.

Mira approached him with a smile. "Good morning Gajeel. What would you like?"

Gajeel grumbled. "Just my usual."

The woman nodded and walked behind the bar to cook up his breakfast. "So, how is Levy settling in?"

He glared at her. "How do ya know about that?"

Mira sent him an innocent smile. "I heard it from Cana."

Gajeel groaned and let his head fall to the countertop.

_"Shoulda known the bloody drunk gossip would say something."_

He was suddenly pushed forward in his seat as someone clapped him on the back. Hard.

He turned in his chair and scowled angrily at the barmaid's younger brother. He was standing before him, proudly puffing out his chest with his hands on his hips. Gajeel rolled his eyes and was about to turn away when Elfman decided to speak a bit too loudly.

"Only a true MAN would invite a woman into his home!"

Gajeel cringed when he suddenly became the centre of attention before glaring at the white-haired man.

"Oye, keep it down would ya? It's way too early in the morning for this." He growled before turning to his breakfast which had just arrived.

He sighed in annoyance when Elfman stayed put and eyeballedhis breakfast. A vein began to throb in his forehead when the other man didn't leave. "_I don't really want to be violent this morning." _He thought as he tried to control himself.

"Steak is MANLY!"

"Oh, fuck it."

With blinding speed, Gajeel stood up and punched Elfman in the face, sending him flying into a nearby table. He let out a grumpy huff and sat down again to eat his breakfast, shaking his slightly throbbing hand as he did so.

"_Damn, that guy has a hard head."_ He thought as he grabbed a fork and proceeded to shove his breakfast into his mouth.

As he tucked into his food, Gajeel thought about what he should do about the situation between him and the bookworm, though it was becoming hard to hear his own thoughts as a loud ruckus had erupted from behind him.

He growled and shoved a last forkful of food into his mouth before he abruptly stood up and walked out, dodging a flying Happy as he went. He didn't bother to turn around to see who had thrown the boy; he was too busy with his own problems.

Gajeel sighed and scratched his head. "_Should I ignore her? Nah, that would be even more awkward. Avoiding her would make me look like a coward. AAARGH, GODDAMN IT!"_

He walked to a nearby tree and began to smack his forehead against it trying to get his thoughts in order. Gajeel kept this up for at least a minute before standing back to continue his walk to nowhere in particular.

He growled at the new throbbing on his face while he walked and he made a fist against the side of his head. There was also the issue of him getting pissed off at her for kicking his stuff around. He would need to sort that out. Though in his defence, she shouldn't have been throwing his things everywhere.

"_Stop being such a sissy. Just do the manly thing and talk to her for fucks sake!" _

Gajeel nodded, agreeing with his brain before he walked to his caravan.

…

Gajeel stood outside his home with his arms crossed as he mentally prepared himself for what he was planning to do. He wasn't a man to apologise, especially if he was sober. But she was his roommate, and he knew that people living together always had a degree of trust. With Lily, this had been easy, but the shrimp was a whole different story.

He grumbled before opening his door and stepping inside. Gajeel took a good look around the room, hoping to see a flash of blue hair, but he found his caravan empty. He frowned at the open bathroom door, then at her bed. "_Where is she?"_

He was about to walk out of the caravan when his foot collided with something big and heavy, causing him fall. He shouted a string of profanities as he went down.

"What the hell?" Gajeel muttered angrily as he rolled over to glare at the thing that had tripped him.

It was a thick, heavy book that obviously belonged to the shrimp. "_Those damned things could kill someone!"_ He thought as he stood up to glare more at the offending stack of bound pages.

After a second, he eyed the book warily before stooping down to lift it and place it on her bed. When he began to walk out to look for her, something suddenly occurred to him.

_"What day is it again?"_ Gajeel placed his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling. "Friday. So, that means she would be at that book place…Right?" He murmured to himself. He then shrugged and strode out the door, deciding that of all the places in the circus she would be, it would definitely be there.

He walked as quickly as he could to the library, ignoring people's greetings and attempts at starting conversations. He frowned a little when he glimpsed Erza and Mystogan running behind an empty stall, but shrugged it off since he wanted to find the bookworm.

Finally, after getting lost a few times, Gajeel made it to the caravan that everyone called a library and walked up the stairs to open the door. Just as he was about to grab the handle, the door swung inwards.

Standing before Gajeel was Levy, her sky kissed hair was still damp from her shower and she was holding a small pile of books. He looked down at her surprised and flushed face, before he let a nervous grin settle on his cheeks. He cursed internally when his ears began to heat up.

"G-Gajeel?!" She squeaked.

"Uh…Hey shrimp."

Levy Stared up at him, her cheeks becoming a deeper shade of red. She then tried to push past him. "Um…Sorry, Gajeel. I um…have to go I have to do some…um…things, bye!"

Gajeel quickly placed his hand on the door frame, his arm blocking her exit. Levy glared at his arm like she wanted to bite it, before she turned to escape on his other side. Before she could do so, he quickly leaned his shoulder against the other side of the door frame. She now had nowhere else to go, except back inside the caravan.

He let his expression become serious when she scowled at him. The shrimp then began to back away.

"_What the heck does she think I'm gonna do?"_ He thought before he rolled his eyes. Gajeel then stepped into the caravan and walked towards Levy, who had placed her books on the desk in the corner.

She turned to stare him down, her arms crossed defensively. Gajeel raised a brow at her before he decided to speak. "Look shrimp…I'm…I'm sorry about yesterday." He mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Half of his manly pride flew out of the window after he spoke those words.

He turned his eyes to look at the bookworm. Her expression had softened slightly, but she still looked cautious.

"W-what did you say?" She asked in a disbelieving tone.

Gajeel growled and decided to pointedly stare at a shelf of books off to his left. "I aint gonna repeat myself." He grumbled roughly before he shoved his hands in his pockets.

He swung his head back toward Levy when he heard her bell-like laugh. She had a small smile on her face and her unusual blue hair swayed as she giggled. Her face was still pink, but she had a small twinkle in her eyes.

She soon stopped her giggling to look up at him. He found himself staring at her in bewilderment.

"_What the…Hell?"_ He thought. Gajeel had become very confused.

Levy then managed to stop her laughing and walked towards him. He didn't move though, because he was too stunned by her reaction.

"It's okay Gajeel." She beamed at him in a way that made his stomach flip slightly. "I should have waited until you got out of the shower."

He frowned at her. "Technically…it was my fault. I opened the door and…I didn't have a shirt on." He admitted reluctantly.

He grinned a little when she frowned at him. "What makes you think I care about whether you wear a shirt or not?" She asked. Her cheeks tinted pink afterwards.

Gajeel chuckled and let a large grin sweep over his face and he leaned in slightly.

"Because when I walked in, your head looked like it was gonna explode." He let out his signature laugh when she jumped away from him and moved to cover her cheeks.

"It was not! You were the one who looked like you were going to drop dead!" She shouted angrily.

He growled slightly. "The hell are ya talkin' about shorty? I was just fine!"

Gajeel widened his eyes when the bookworm smirked at him. "Didn't look that way to me."

He finally let out an annoyed 'tch' and turned away. "You wish, bookworm. See ya around." He said as he stalked out of the caravan.

He smirked a little when he heard an angry huff, followed by the sound of little footsteps as she ran after him.

"Wait Gajeel! Stop for a second." She was gasping, trying to keep up and he rolled his eyes.

"What do ya want shrimp?" He slowed his pace but didn't stop walking. Gajeel looked down at Levy, who was still almost running to match his long strides.

"Are we okay now?" She had a slightly worried expression on her face.

He looked down at her and nodded. "As long as you don't think I'm a pervert."

Levy smiled. "Don't worry; I don't think you are."

He grumbled and looked away. "Whatever, short stuff. I'm gonna train now, so don't bug me"

Gajeel managed to keep the uncaring expression on his face as he walked away, but inside, he was grinning like a maniac. "_At least she's not gonna call the army to arrest me or anything."_

He headed back to his caravan to grab his iron juggling clubs for another day of training. He needed to get some routines sorted ASAP; otherwise he was as good as screwed.

Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows as he entered his caravan and grabbed the clubs from one of the shelves at the end of his bed. As he walked back out of his home, he stood on the pathway leading to the big top and began to throw his clubs into the air, ignoring the murmurs and stares from the other circus members.

This was a good way to practice, since it involved multitasking. While still throwing and spinning his clubs into the air, he continued to walk to his usual patch of flattened grass. Gajeel was doing a good job, keeping his eyes on the clubs and using his peripheral vision to stop him from walking into anything and making a complete ass out of himself.

That is, until his concentration was ruined when a pink haired idiot threw something at him. Gajeel managed to catch the object, but one of his clubs fell to the ground.

He snarled at Natsu before picking up his club. "What was that for, pink shit?" He growled angrily at the younger man who was standing a few metres to his right.

Natsu shrugged and grinned. Gajeel took that moment to get a good look at the man.

His left arm was bandaged up to his bicep and was being held in place by a sling. It looked sore, but Natsu didn't seem phased by it at all. In fact, the idiot looked kind of proud of it.

He snorted at the pink haired man and walked over. When he was close, he let a fist fall lightly on Natsu's head, making a few of the smaller man's spikes flatten.

He grinned when the fire-eater shook him off and frowned at him. "Hear you have a new roommate."

Gajeel just shrugged and began to walk on. "So what if I have?"

He didn't have to turn to know that Natsu was walking beside him.

"I heard it was _you_ who offered Levy a place to stay. You like her, doncha?"

Gajeel abruptly stopped and glared menacingly at the shorter man, who had a cocky grin on his face and was wriggling his eyebrows.

"No! She needed a place to stay god damn it! Now stop bloody harassing me or I'll attack you." He hissed angrily. " And didn't you ask Blondie to stay with you?"

The eighteen year old just shrugged with a knowing grin on his face that made Gajeel's eye twitch dangerously, before he turned and walked away.

He let out a huff of frustration before he looked down at the object that had been thrown at him. His eyes boggled. "_A brick?! What the hell? Did the little shit want to kill me or something?!" _He growled angrily and threw the brick over his shoulder, not bothering to see where it landed.

The raven haired man continued to walk on towards his training area and grumbled. After not sleeping well, he was in more of a bad mood than he usually was.

Gajeel let out a troubled sigh and continued to walk to where he had originally been heading to in the first place.

…

"_Well, at least something actually worked for once."_ Gajeel thought as he placed his clubs on his bed.

It had been a while after he had talked with Natsu, well, more like shouted at him, but during that time he had actually managed to figure out some basic moves that he could put into a routine that may or may not turn out to be an epic fail.

He shrugged and pulled on a change of clothes because the ones he had worn were damp with sweat. Gajeel then headed out towards the big top.

The fact that almost everyone had asked him about his new roommate with sly grins on their faces had been pissing him off. He decided that he would pummel the next person who had the nerve to ask him about it.

He grinned evilly at the thought as he slouched into the big top. Gajeel stopped when he was inside and stood near the entrance, observing the people before him out of curiosity and boredom.

Salamander and bunny girl were chatting near the bar; Happy was sitting beside them and eating sardines from a tin. Gajeel wrinkled his nose in disgust. "_How the hell could someone eat that stuff…?"_

He let his eyes wander again. Elfman was talking to Wendy and Carla, Mira was serving people and the old man was talking with his grandson, Laxus. Gajeel could also see Gildarts messing around with Cana. "_Probably stealing her alcohol…"_

He spotted a curling mass of blue hair at a far table and he grinned at the shrimp, who was doing what she did best: reading. He was about to head over but stopped when he also saw that the green haired pretty boy was sitting beside her.

Gajeel scowled and headed towards the bar before sitting down. On the other side was Mira, who was now wiping down the bench with an old rag. She turned to him and smiled.

"Hello again Gajeel."

He just grumbled back and crossed his arms on the counter top.

Not really getting his mood, Mira continued to ramble on about nothing in particular. Gajeel just placed his head on his arms and zoned out.

"You know, Jet and Droy are staring at you, and they don't look too happy."

He lifted his head back up to look at the barmaid. She was still wiping the bench top, but was glancing at a point over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

Gajeel turned his head slightly and followed the direction of her eyes to see that Jet and Droy were looking at him with frowns on their faces.

He turned back to Mira and scowled. "What the hell do those idiots want?"

She turned her head back towards him and smiled. It was one of her creepy, mischievous smiles that made even Makarov shudder. Gajeel flinched and leaned back a little. "_She is one scary chick…"_

"I think that they might be jealous of you." She grinned even wider when she saw him furrow his eyebrows.

Gajeel frowned in irritation. "Waddaya mean? Why the hell would they be jealous?"

Mira placed a finger to her lips and smiled wider. "Because, a cute little bluenette is staying with you."

He stared at her with wide eyes and blinked. "Oh…right."

Gajeel grimaced when he turned to see them heading in his direction. He did love to annoy the two clowns, but this was probably not the best way to do it.

Mira saw his look and grinned. "Why don't you go over and sit with Levy. I will talk with these two."

He didn't miss the freaky tone in her voice and quickly stood up to walk away from her as fast as possible. As he walked away, he heard Mira call out to Jet and Droy in a sickly sweet voice and he grinned when he also heard a few terrified squeaks.

Gajeel turned his attention to the table at the far end of the big top where Levy was sitting and walked over. She didn't even look up from her book when he stood next to her and he waved his hand in front of her face. "_No reaction? What the heck is wrong with this woman?"_

He shrugged and sat down beside her. Freed looked up and nodded to him in greeting and he returned it, though he shot the green haired man a quick scowl when he turned back to his book.

Gajeel rested his head on the table and snorted in pure boredom, but he was completely ignored by Levy.

After a few minutes, he couldn't take it any longer and abruptly stood up while simultaneously grabbing the shrimp's book from her hands. Levy looked up, but before she could start yelling at him, he was already striding out of the big top with the book under his arm.

"Gajeel, you ass hole give it back!" He heard her scream at him and he let a devilish grin spread across his face.

He slowed down a little when he passed a tent outside and turned around to face the fuming bookworm.

"You know, I really don't like being ignored." He said in a teasing voice.

She glared at him and lunged for her book. Gajeel quickly lifted the book high above her head and chuckled when she began to jump to try and reach it.

Levy finally stopped jumping and braced herself against her knees, exhausted and out of breath. She then glared up at him. "It's not my fault you get bored easily. Now give my book back please."

Gajeel turned the book around and began to read the back and frowned. "Fifty Shades of Grey…?"

The book was suddenly yanked out of his arms and he turned to see a bright red shrimp holding the book tightly.

"Erza lent it to me. I got through a few pages and was about to stop because it's not that great, but then you took it off me."

Gajeel grinned. "So, its one of _those_ books huh shrimp?" He teased.

Levy flushed a darker red. "Please don't tell anyone…Erza wont like it."

He was suddenly filled with thoughts on what Erza would do if he did tell and he visibly shuddered. The idea of her torturing him didn't sit well with him at all.

He growled. "Fine, I won't say anything." He began to turn away, but stopped when a thought occurred to him. Gajeel turned back towards Levy with his hands in his pockets. She was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, most likely wondering what he was up too.

"There is another show on tonight. I was gonna go along and watch. You can come if ya like." Her eyebrows looked like they were going to shoot off her forehead and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the book tightly.

Gajeel raised his eyebrows at her reaction and shrugged before turning away. "Whatever. I'm heading home, see ya around." He waved over his shoulder and began to walk away.

He heard little footsteps beside him and he looked down at Levy, who was once again, redder than a tomato.

"I'll come along, if that's okay with you." She said quietly, her brown eyes gazing up at him.

Gajeel felt his ears and cheek bones heat up a little and he cursed internally. "_What is wrong with my damned face?!"_

He realised that the little bluenette was giving him a weird look and he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Okay then. Since its Friday, it starts at four. So I'll see ya at the big top around then." He said casually.

She nodded and began to turn away down a different route. "I'm going to give this back to Erza. I'll see you later?"

Gajeel gave her a brusque nod and continued to walk towards his own caravan. It was around two in the afternoon, so he was going to have to find something to do to ease his severe boredom.

As he walked past the stripper's stall, he spotted another familiar blunette stalking nearby and he rolled his eyes. He approached the woman until he was directly behind her and jabbed her on the shoulder.

The woman whirled around and gave him a surprised glare. "Gajeel, you startled Juvia! How mean."

He just grinned at Juvia. "Still wasting your time with that guy?"

The woman frowned at him. "Grey-Sama is not a waste of time, he is Juvia's beloved! One day, he will propose and he and Juvia will have thirty-five babies!" She squealed and clasped her hands together.

Gajeel just sighed. "Does he actually know you stalk him everywhere?"

She pouted. "Juvia is unsure, but she will follow him to the ends of the earth!"

"Why don't ya just tell him ya like him?"

The woman stared at him. "Because…because Juvia doesn't want rejection."

Gajeel smiled a little. He and Juvia were always close friends in Phantom. They still hung out at Fairy Tail, just not as much because of the woman's disturbing obsession with Fullbuster.

"Well, I think you should say something before some other girl grabs him." He said and pointed towards the stripper, who was approached by a couple of girls.

Juvia suddenly sent a blinding death glare in their direction and began to walk forward. Before she could go on a full on rampage, Gajeel placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ya better tell him. Stripper is a thick-headed idiot and doesn't get why you follow him around."

"Juvia will think about it." She said before she headed towards Grey, with a determined and slightly scary expression on her face.

Gajeel grinned. Shaking his head, he turned away and walked home.

…

It was now quarter to four and Fairy Tail was buzzing with excitement and filling with people from town and other parts of Fiore.

Gajeel was leaning against one of the ticket vendors, waiting for Levy to show up so that they could go inside. He was dressed casually in a black t-shirt, dark grey jeans and his usual combat boots. He wasn't one to care about how he dressed or what others thought of him so he didn't bother with wearing anything like a button down shirt. Besides, they were uncomfortable.

He sighed and let his head fall back on the stall. If the shrimp didn't show up soon, they were going to be late and would miss out on the first acts.

"_What is it with girls and being late?"_ He thought impatiently. The only reason he had arrived fifteen minutes early was because he had nothing else to do.

Gajeel was considering walking inside, when he heard someone calling his name. He turned and scanned the crowd to look for the mystery person, spotting a head of wild blue hair bobbing around as he did so.

Soon the shrimp emerged from the mass of people and he looked over her slender frame. She was wearing a lacy white dress that reached her knees and hugged her figure and a red satchel was slung over her shoulder. Her blue hair was being held away from her face by a white headband and her eyes were twinkling in excitement.

Gajeel widened his eyes when his heart began to beat faster. "_Jesus Christ, what's wrong with me?!" _

Soon Levy was standing before him with a large smile on her face. "Hey Gajeel, sorry I'm late. Do you want me to get tickets?"

He snapped himself out of his little daze and shook his head.

"Fairy Tail members get to watch for free, since we live here. Why were you so late?"

Levy frowned. "I went to give the book back to Erza. But I accidentally saw her and Mystogan doing…things…And they pretty much held me captive and threatened me for ages."

Gajeel had a fair idea of what she caught them doing and he gave her a devilish grin. "Gihi. I knew those two were up to something."

She cringed and nodded before she stood beside him to watch the crowd and the other performers.

"So, where do we sit?" He heard her ask curiously.

Gajeel looked down at her. "Since the stands are used by the audience, we sit on the second floor where Laxus works. There are some extra seats up there that can be used if some people here want to watch."

The shrimp turned a thoughtful gaze on him. "What does Laxus do up there?"

"He does all the lighting and effects. Don't know why though, the idiot got an electric shock one day and still works up there." He said with a frown on his face.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Levy's blue hair sway as she nodded her head. The two stayed in silence for a few minutes before Gajeel tapped her on the shoulder as a signal to head inside.

Gajeel frowned when she stayed put. "Oye shrimp let's go." He said impatiently.

He leaned forward to look at her face when she didn't move. She was clutching her bag tightly and she was trembling.

Gajeel raised his eyebrows. "_She looks…scared?"_ He thought when he saw her wide, frightened eyes.

Without warning, Levy suddenly grabbed his sleeve and stepped behind him. Confused, he moved away slightly. "What the hell is wrong with ya?" He asked, slightly irritated.

Levy didn't answer and peeked around his arm cautiously. She suddenly grabbed his arm tightly and whimpered.

He frowned and bent down so that he was close to her face. "Tell me, what's up?"

She glanced at him and tightened her grip.

"The man with the monocle. By Evergreen's tent." She whispered frantically.

Gajeel snapped his head up and looked over Ever's tent. His eyes landed on a man standing near its entrance that fit Levy's description. He was wearing a brown suit and his hair was a deep shade of green. What also caught his attention was the small monocle over his right eye. "_What the fuck is __**he**__ doing here?!"_

Gajeel glared and let out a feral snarl when he noticed that the man was staring at Levy, who was peeking fearfully around his shoulder. The man saw that he was glaring at him and grinned, before vanishing in the crowd.

"Shit, get inside."

He immediately turned around and flung his arm around Levy's shoulder and began to race inside. Levy grabbed his shirt tightly and ran as fast as she could to keep up with him as he pushed through the crowd, shoving anyone near him out of his way.

When they made it into the big top, Levy let go and was about to walk ahead of him, but he quickly tightened his hold on her shoulder. She gave him a confused look and he shook his head slightly.

"Not yet." He muttered so that only she could hear and he indicated towards the stairs. She nodded and they both started moving again, with Gajeel cautiously searching their surroundings as they did so.

Soon they were both bounding up the stairs. Levy tripped slightly in her attempt to keep up and Gajeel quickly slipped an arm around her waist to help her up.

As they ascended, Gajeel spotted Laxus leaning over the railing. The blonde was wearing a microphone and held a small control panel. The man was also wearing a sly grin when he saw the two of them desperately running up the stairs.

The smile was soon wiped from his face and replaced with a concerned frown when he saw Gajeel and the shrimp's expressions.

The raven haired man finally made it up the stairs and led Levy to some of the seats at the end of the second floor. From where they were, they could look straight down into the ring. They looked like they were the only ones up there apart from Laxus, since all the other members were busy with work.

"_Thank god." _ Gajeel thought as he slumped into one of the chairs, pulling Levy with him. She landed with a squeak on the chair beside him and he removed his arm from her shoulder.

He turned his head towards Laxus. The blonde man gave him a questioning look and he responded with a slight shake of the head, signalling for him to leave it alone for now.

The other man nodded his head and turned away to get on with his work and Gajeel turned back towards Levy. She was shaking and hunched over in her seat with her arms wrapped tightly around her body.

Her blue hair was falling across her face so he leaned down. Levy's eyes were wide with tears slowly falling down her cheeks, her jaw was clamped shut so hard he thought her teeth would break.

Gajeel let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Okay Levy. I think it's time ya told me whats been eatin' at ya."

The little bluenette sat back slightly and nodded slowly. She was still shaking like a leaf and her eyes were bugging out.

The show had begun downstairs, but Gajeel wasn't paying attention. He was too focused on the shrimp.

He waited patiently for her to speak, but every time she opened her mouth to say something, nothing would come out.

"Take your time." He said calmly.

After a few minutes of her regaining her courage, she opened her mouth again to speak and Gajeel leaned forward so that he could hear her small voice.

"...They found me..."

**God that was long XD please review and let me know what you think!**

**Cheerio!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! I have returned and brought with me chapter 14! I apologize for the long wait (school and stuff) , but hopefully this chapter is ok. Enjoy and let me know what you think!**

**Fairy tail and all characters belong to Hiro Mashima! :D**

"They found me." She said in a quiet, shaky voice.

Levy gripped her seat tightly and she shook as the words she had just whispered echoed around her. "_They found me…They found me…"_

The fear was overwhelming and she was having trouble sorting through her memories. Flashes of blood seeped through her vision as the horrible scenes from her past started to unfold in her mind.

She avoided Gajeel's intense gaze and stared blankly at the performers downstairs, though the sounds didn't register in her head. Gathering as much courage as she could, she plunged into some of her earliest memories that she could remember and opened her mouth to speak.

"M...my parents died when I was about six years old. I hid, but even as I did, I could still hear everything." She shuddered when she remembered being shut away in a cupboard, and afterwards, the sound of bodies hitting the floor.

"I didn't want to leave because of...what I would see if I did." Levy gulped. "Soon, they found me and dragged me away. They didn't cover my eyes when I passed my parents..."

Levy paused to shudder. "_So much blood…"_ The man beside her stiffened but said nothing.

"They took me to a place with high walls. There was barbed wire and cells _everywhere_. I was made to work with the other people and they chained us to our tools so we couldn't run. If we stopped, they would beat and starve us. They hardly ever fed me, so it didn't make much difference. That's why I'm so small."

From the corner of her eye, Levy could see the man beside her clenching and unclenching his fists in suppressed rage. She quickly moved to continue before he broke something.

"It continued like that for about twelve years before I got out in a riot. I was one of the smallest so I wouldn't be seen...at least I _thought _I wouldn't." Levy kept quiet about the smaller details.

"I made it back to my old house; it was abandoned and mostly looted, though I knew where my parents had kept the money. I didn't know that I had been followed." _They found me…They always find me…"_

"Before I could properly get everything and run, some people grabbed me and took me back. They wanted to make sure I wouldn't do it again..."

Levy managed to hold back a few tortured sobs, before she hitched up her skirt slightly to show the skin just above her knees. Long, wide, jagged scars covered the front of her upper and lower thighs, making the skin there look pink and raw. She heard Gajeel take in a sharp breath and she quickly covered up her legs again. "_He's disgusted…Of course he is. They are horrible." _She thought sadly.

"I managed to escape again a month ago. Walking was difficult but I still made it. Since then I have been travelling to get as far away as possible. I used the jewels my parents had hidden away to travel…and to buy books. I had wanted to go to Crocus, but because of some…train issues, I ended up here instead."

With a small nod, Levy leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to look at Gajeel. _"I understand if they want to kick me out. I'm not fussed." _But even as she thought the words, she couldn't quite bring herself to agree with them.

"_I should probably plan on booking a train ticket or something." _She sighed and stood up to make her way past Gajeel, who was leaning over in his seat with his brows shadowing his eyes.

She gasped a little in surprise turned her head sharply when he grabbed her wrist firmly. He was now standing before her with a terrifying expression and she shrunk back with a small squeak.

"There's something else yer not telling me."

Levy cringed at the tone in his voice and furrowed her eyebrows. "G-Gajeel, I don't know what you're talking abou-"

"How? " He cut her off. "How _exactly _did you get out?"

"_He realized "_ Levy thought before she hung her head, exhausted and defeated. Her wrist hung limply in Gajeel's hand and he loosened his grip a little.

She brought her free hand up to cover her eyes as she felt the tears well up and spill over her cheeks. The full trauma hit her and her legs shook as she fought to keep herself standing.

"I-I starved myself…both times. I stopped eating so I could fit between the bars of my cell." Levy felt Gajeel release her hand and she clenched both of them into fists in an attempt to regain control of herself.

When most of the shaking subsided, she looked up at the man before her. He looked absolutely _furious_ and was emitting a dangerous, dark aura that made her tremble. "_This…this is not good." _She thought in fear.

"The guy we saw before. The one with the green hair…was he there?" It sounded like he could just barely get the words out from between his gritted teeth.

Levy gulped and nodded. "I saw him a couple of times…"

Gajeel suddenly took her arm and began to stride towards the stairs, pulling her along with him.

"Gajeel, what are you doing?!" She shrieked loudly. The music from the performance on the first floor of the big top had become louder, so she had to shout to get her voice to reach him.

"That bastard is in Phantom. We need to tell the old man." He said angrily.

"Phantom?!" Levy suddenly stopped dead and her eyes widened to stare straight ahead. "_That's why it sounded so familiar. Gajeel…He was in Phantom too!"_

She panicked and began to thrash and squirm in his grasp. "Don't touch me!" She shouted hysterically.

He quickly released his hold on her and cursed loudly. Levy stepped away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. She glared at Gajeel and made sure that he kept his distance.

"Stay away from me. You…you were with Phantom. You were with _them._" She said fearfully.

Gajeel's eyes widened as he seemed to realize what she had just said. He then narrowed them, shook his head and began to step towards her.

Levy's breathing quickened and she stepped back. "S-stop! Don't come near me!" Gajeel didn't listen and continued to walk forwards until she was backed into a wall. She looked around frantically, but the large man was blocking any form of escape.

"_No…Not again…"_ Levy scrunched up her eyes. The feeling of rough hands on her shoulders had her turning her head away, expecting a blow.

"Levy…look at me."

The softer tone in his voice took her by surprise and she opened her eyes, though she was still too nervous to look directly at him. One of his hands then left her shoulder to hook under her chin, and he pulled her face around so that she was staring directly into his crimson eyes.

Levy bit her lip nervously and tried to move her head, but he tightened his grip on her chin, restricting her movements. She quickly began to think up possible escape routes, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. She furrowed her eyebrows at him in a small frown as she attempted to figure out the emotions in his expression.

She reflexively stiffened when he opened his mouth to speak. "Yea, I was in Phantom. But that was _years_ ago, Levy. Three years I've been away from those ass-holes, and in all that time I was there, I had absolutely no fucking idea that this…thing where you were even existed. I swear to god that I aint lying."

Levy had nowhere else to look but at Gajeel. He stared right back, his eyes boring into hers and for once, his defenses were down. All of his emotions were visible on his face. "_...He's telling the truth…"_ She blinked, causing a few more tears to leak out of her sore eyes and slide down her already damp cheeks.

She felt Gajeel release his other shoulder and move it to her chin. Soon, he was holding her face with both hands and she gasped when he began to run his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

His actions rendered her speechless and her mouth fell open in shock. Levy suddenly became _very _aware of his close proximity. She had no control over the red blush that covered her cheeks, nor the rapid increase in her heart rate. "_Not the time for this!" _She squealed internally.

Gajeel let a frown cross his features as he seemed to read their situation. He quickly released her, before stepping back, his defenses back in place. Levy shivered slightly at the lack of warmth, but didn't complain as it helped to lower the temperature of her face to a reasonable level.

"We need to tell them."

Levy snapped her head up to look at him. "No…Gajeel we can't!"

He turned towards her and lifted the corner of his lip in a snarl. "They need to know! We don't know what could happen; those shit heads might be searchin' for ya outside already!"

She swallowed at the idea, but refused to back down. "Not yet, wait till tomorrow at least." She pleaded.

The dark haired man huffed in annoyance and leaned his back against the railing with his arms crossed. "Fine." He said in a tired voice.

Levy sighed in relief. "_I'm not ready for so many people to know. Not just yet." _

"Well, I'm fuckin' tired so i'm going home. Ya coming?"

She had a feeling that her roommate would drag her home if she said no, so she just nodded and headed towards the stairs.

She could feel his presence behind her as she headed down the steps. The crowd in the big top was making a racket as the performance went on, making it easier for her and Gajeel to leave without being noticed.

Soon they were outside in the cool night air. Levy shivered as a cold wind swept at her bare arms and legs. "_Autumn…damn it's cold." _ She thought as she folded her arms in an attempt to retain some warmth.

Gajeel, who was now standing beside her, didn't seem to notice the cold and walked on wards, keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings. When Levy slowly began to follow him back to the caravan, a huge yawn escaped her and she realized how tired she really was. All of that running and crying left her feeling exhausted. It was quite a lot for her small body to take all at once. She could feel the fatigue pulling at her eyelids and she began to stumble as she walked.

Levy didn't even flinch when she felt Gajeel's strong arms wrap around her small form and lift her. She relaxed next to the warm, solid shape and mumbled a few incoherent sentences in her sleep deprived state, before entwining her hands in the soft fabric of his shirt.

The steady rhythm of his heartbeat near her head and the rocking movement as he walked began to lull her into sleep.

"_This feeling…is nice…"_

…

_Levy grinned happily as she turned the page of her book, completely absorbed in the story. The man and woman on the other side of the room glanced at their daughter and smiled, before turning back to flip the pages of their own books._

_Her father stood up and stretched as he walked towards the large window that overlooked their front garden. Levy placed her book aside and skipped towards her mother, who grinned and opened her arms so that she could jump into them._

_Just as she was about to leap into her embrace, a blinding light shone though the room and the window shattered, the force throwing her and her mother into the wall._

_She could hardly see a thing through the smoke and shards of glass that cut her skin as she tried to stand up. Levy could hear her mother screaming to her father as he attempted to stand. He yelled for them to run._

_Her mother grabbed her and ran. Levy struggled against her grip as she reached for her father, but lost sight of him when they disappeared down the hall._

_Blood and tears blurred her vision as she was carried away. Another explosion rocked the house just before they could get outside and they were thrown to the ground. She covered her ears at the loud noises and her mother pulled her close before staggering into the nearest room, carrying Levy with her._

_Once inside the room, her mother opened a closet and set her down inside. Levy squealed for her to stay and not leave her alone. The woman just smiled sadly and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She kissed her on the forehead and stroked her cheek, whispering words in her ear, before stepping back and proceeded to close the door._

_In the last ounce of light, Levy glimpsed her mother's expression full of agony and heart break before she was completely shrouded in darkness._

_She huddled in one of the furthest corners of the closet and covered her ears in an attempt to block out the sounds outside. It didn't work. The sound of her mother and father's voices reached her and she could hear them begging their attackers for mercy and giving them false directions as to where she was hidden so that she could stay safe._

_Then, there was the sound of a blade being drawn, followed by heavy thumps as something hit the ground. She winced and shrunk back against the wall, her body convulsing in uncontrollable shudders when she realized what must have happened._

_Levy clutched her head and began to sob in pure agony. Time passed, she didn't know how long she had stayed in the closet, minutes? Hours? She didn't care. She didn't want to leave, knowing that she would see something horrible if she did._

_The thought of having to sleep there had just crossed her mind, when creaking sounds outside made her stop completely._

_Footsteps. They came closer and Levy held her breath. She hoped that they would pass by and that she would be left to herself again. But that was not to be._

_The door was flung open and she twitched her eyes at the bright light. A large, dark figure towered over her and she squealed in fright._

_The silhouette hunched down closer and a glinting grin settled on its shadowed face. It reached out a hand to grab her and pull her out of her hiding place. She clawed at it and thrashed in its grip, before she was thrown to the floor again._

_Levy tried to stand, but slipped in something wet. She looked down at her hands. They were red. She followed the trail of red with her eyes until it stopped at something._

_It was her parents. Levy scrambled away as far as she could before letting out a blood curdling scream._

_..._

"GYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Levy leaped off of the soft surface she had been lying on and flung herself to the corner of the room. She knelt against the wall and covered her head with her shaking hands. She was completely soaked with sweat, her vision blurred from crying.

"Oh god...oh god..." She whispered as she tried to get the vivid images out of her head. The room she was in was dark and she could hardly see a thing.

They weren't just dreams...they were _memories_ that had come back to haunt her as she slept. She bit her lip and held back a sob at the thought. She remembered the dark figure with the horrible smile, as it reached its hand out to grab her and-

"What the _fuck_ shrimp?!"

Gajeel's rough, familiar voice abruptly pulled her from her inner thoughts and she glanced around in the gloomy light to find him.

He was sitting up in his bed and staring at her, his expression contorted into one of disbelief. His hair was a crazy black mess and she could just make out dark smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep.

_"I'm not alone."_ She thought in relief.

A sudden image of blood flitted across her eyes as she gave a panicked squeal, before covering her head with her arms and caving in on herself.

More images flashed by. She crawled forward and, not quite thinking straight, frantically scrambled to the other side of the room and jumped onto Gajeel's bed before wrapping her arms around his torso.

The man threw his arms up above his head and glared down at her in disbelief. "Levy?! What the fuck are ya doing?!" He yelled.

Levy found that she couldn't answer, partly because she was too scared to be alone again and partly because she was thoroughly _mortified _that she had just completely invaded her roommate's personal space.

_"What the hell am I doing?!" _She yelled inside her head.

While Levy mentally screamed at herself, she didn't notice that Gajeel had begun to recover a little from her actions. He slowly lowered his arms until they were resting at his sides and she glanced up at him.

His eyes were wide, but his mouth was quirked in amusement. When he spotted her looking at him, he raised a brow and gave her a fanged grin.

"Gihi, didn't know you were _that _desperate shrimp."

Her face burned and she scowled in embarrassment.

"I'm not desperate!" She shouted

She quickly unwrapped her arms from around his waist to give him some space.

He frowned at her. "What the hell was that about anyway?"

"I had a nightmare, that's all." She said dismissively.

Gajeel's frown deepened, but he nodded in understanding.

"So... why are ya on my bed?"

"...ah..."

"_Gah, this just keeps getting worse!" _Levy blushed again and stood up to move away from him.

She tried to change the subject. "What time is it?"

Gajeel pulled an annoyed expression before throwing his arm out to sloppily point at a clock on one of his shelves.

"Bloody six thirty in the morning. I was sleeping just fine too, until ya woke me up." He said grumpily.

Levy smiled apologetically, glancing at the shadows under his eyes "_Now he's lying."_ She thought before speaking.

"Right...Sorry. Oh and what happened after I fell asleep?" She asked, noticing for the first time that she was still wearing her dress from the day before.

He shrugged and flopped his head on his pillow. "Carried ya back and put ya on your bed before I fell asleep on mine."

She nodded and proceeded to walk to her draws to get some clothes. She then strode into the bathroom to get ready for the day, smiling at the soft snores that had suddenly erupted from Gajeel's bed.

As she undressed, she glanced at the scars that criss-crossed her thighs. She had hoped that they would fade, but it didn't seem like it was going to happen as they were so large and deep.

Levy sighed and pulled on the change of clothes before exiting the bathroom, throwing her dirty laundry in a small basket beside her bed as she did so. She then began to rifle through her draws for a new head band. She found a green one with a black zigzag pattern which she wrapped around her hair, before walking towards the front door, grabbing one of her books on the way.

She was about to walk outside, when Gajeel's voice stopped her.

"What are ya doing?"

She turned to look at him and frowned. He was sitting on the end of his bed wearing a simple grey t-shirt and black jeans, along with his usual combat boots. "I thought you were sleeping?"

"You didn't answer my question." He said, avoiding hers.

"I'm going to find somewhere to read and I need to...think over some things."

One of his eyebrows shot up. "And ya plan on doing this _alone_? After you were seen by that ass-hole yesterday?"

"_I can take care of myself..." _She glared at him and placed a hand on her hip.

"I can handle being by myself just fine."

His eyebrows shot up at that. "Are you an idiot? They are looking for ya and being outside alone will make you a much easier target than you already are."

"What the...?! Are you saying I'm weak because I'm small? Is that it?" He had hit a nerve and she glared daggers at him.

He stood up and narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't saying that! Just because you're small doesn't mean yer weak. "

Levy kept the glare on her face. "Well I'm not staying shut in here. If I want to go outside, I will go outside." She said before promptly turning on her heel walking through the front door.

"Stupid Gajeel." She muttered as she stomped over the dead leaves that littered the ground.

Levy let her irritation simmer as she walked to nowhere. Gusts of wind blew around her face, but thankfully she had come outside prepared for the weather, in a white jacket and blue jeans.

"_I'm fine by myself, I always was. He has no need to worry over me like a child!"_

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes widened, making her brows disappear into her hair line. "_Worried?"_

"Oi, bookworm!"

Levy whirled around in surprise. The wind whipped up her hair as she turned and she clutched her book tighter when she saw Gajeel. He had thrown on a black jacket and was striding towards her, with his hands in his pockets.

Her frustration almost completely melted away and she giggled when the wind blew his hair into his face. He pulled it away from his eyes in obvious frustration and scowled at her.

"That aint funny." He grumbled when he was a few feet away.

Levy managed to stifle her giggles enough to look at him without sputtering.

Gajeel let out a "tch" and walked so that he stood in front of her.

"You really are an idiot if ya think hanging around alone at a time like this is a good idea. Especially if there are people looking for ya." He said gruffly.

She sighed. "I know. I'm sorry that I overreacted."

He looked down at her and flicked her on the forehead. "Gajeel! That hurts!" She squealed and he chuckled before ruffling her hair.

"Why do you always do that?" She said in irritation.

Gajeel grinned and began to walk towards the big top. "Cos its fun." She ran to catch up to him and he shoved his hands back in his pockets.

"And the best thing is yer are too short to do anythin' about it!"

Levy looked up at him as they walked and grinned mischievously. "Right now, I don't need to."

He gave her a questioning look and just as he opened his mouth to speak, a large gust of wind blew his hair in his face again.

Levy laughed as he attempted to yank his spiky black locks away.

"Argh! " He yelled as it blew right back.

"_Oh dear..." _She thought as she started to take pity on him. She began to look around for some form of shelter. It was still early in the morning so hardly anyone apart from them was awake, meaning that most of the nearby stalls and tents were closed.

Her eyes soon landed on a tent that looked to be open and she grabbed Gajeel's hand before racing towards it, dragging the man behind her as he fought a losing battle with his own hair.

When they finally made it inside, Levy quickly released his hand and smiled at the sudden rise in temperature inside the empty tent. "_Looks like we may get a storm later."_

"God damned weather is pissing me off." Gajeel grumbled beside her. He had finally managed to free his face from his unruly hair and was now standing with his arms crossed in annoyance.

She raised a brow at him. "Why don't you just cut your hair?"

The man suddenly looked at her like she had slapped him in the face. "What the hell? Why would I do that?!"

Levy gulped. _"He is more possessive over his hair than any girl."_

"Well, then why don't you tie it up?"

He snorted. "Ya left so fast I didn't have time!"

They both became silent and her eyes widened. _"He ran after me?!"_ Her cheeks heated up and she could almost swear she saw Gajeel's cheekbones turn pink.

He coughed and pulled something out of his pocket. "This is yours." He mumbled gruffly.

He thrust the object in her face and she caught it. When she saw what it was, she let her face light up in a huge smile and she turned the clean fabric over in her hands.

"My headband! Gajeel, when did you...? She looked up at him and he grinned awkwardly.

"Thought ya might want it back."

Levy beamed at him, and a thought occurred to her. "You can wear it!" She said loudly.

He jumped back and glared at her. "The hell are ya on about shrimp? I aint wearing _that._"

She pouted and waved the head band in front of him. "But then your hair won't be flying in your face!"

Gajeel folded his arms over his chest and frowned in thought before coming to a decision.

"Alright, but I don't wanna wear that one." Levy frowned at him and he smirked at her.

He then pointed at her head. "I wanna wear _that_ one."

She reached up and touched the one that was holding her hear back. "Why this one?"

Gajeel huffed. "Because, the other one is girly and I like green."

_"Darn, that's one of my favorites." _Levy pouted again, but reluctantly reached up and tugged the green fabric out of her hair before giving it to Gajeel.

The man grinned and tied it around his head, over his hair line and she tied her own around her head.

She glanced at him and only just managed to hold back a gasp. _"He looks __**really **__good in that...Ah! Why are you thinking that?!"_

Shaking her head to get those thoughts out of her mind, she strode towards the exit and stepped outside. The wind was even stronger than before and it took effort for her to stay upright.

Levy felt a hand against her back pushing her forward. She turned her head enough to smile at Gajeel, who smirked back. His hair was now held away from his face by the headband and he seemed to like it.

He adjusted his arm so that it was around her shoulders and they both began to push forward through the strong gales towards the big top.

...

Levy burst into the big top with Gajeel and panted heavily. _"That was a nightmare!" _She thought as she clutched her book to her chest and shivered at the sudden temperature change.

With the wind pushing them in almost every direction, it had taken them much longer to get to the big top than usual. She was pretty sure that she would have been blown away if Gajeel hadn't been there to push her on.

"I don't think I'll be going outside any time soon." She said breathlessly.

Gajeel huffed in agreement and was about to reply when something caught his eye and he smirked.

Curious, Levy followed his gaze and wished she hadn't. Both of them were being stared at by _everyone._ And she could easily guess why.

They were both wearing headbands and Gajeel still had his arm around her shoulder.

"_Oh crap..."_ She thought when she caught Lucy, Erza and Mira's sly grins. Jet and Droy were staring at her like fish out of water. Everyone else looked like they were enjoying seeing them in their uncomfortable and awkward situation.

Levy's face heated up and she slowly edged out from under Gajeel's arm. He glanced at her and shrugged before walking to the bar, motioning for her to follow.

She walked behind him sheepishly and took a seat beside him at the bar. They were soon approached by Mira who grinned at them mischievously from behind her hand.

_"Oh crap..." _Levy repeated internally when the woman opened her mouth to speak and she started to sweat nervously.

"So, what will it be?"

Gajeel, not noticing anything unusual, ordered his breakfast. Mira nodded then turned to her with a terrifying grin.

"_Levy_! What would you like?" The white haired woman asked with a little too much enthusiasm for her liking.

"Ah...hot chocolate please." She squeaked.

Mira waggled her eyebrows at her before turning away to get their orders.

"Oh god, these people don't know the meaning of the word privacy do they?" Levy asked before letting her head fall on the counter top.

Gajeel snorted beside her. "Ignore them; I do it all the time."

She sighed and opened her book to read but couldn't quite get into the story because of the feeling of being watched.

Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with Lucy. She yelped and jumped backwards at the unexpected closeness of the blonde.

"L-lucy! What are you doing?" She asked nervously.

Lucy clasped her shoulders tightly. "Us girls would like to have a discussion with you later Levy, if that's ok?"

"_Rhetorical question..." _"Ah, sure thing."

Her friend grinned and began to skip away. "Great Levy, see you later!"

She waved over her shoulder as she departed and Levy groaned before turning back to the bar to see Gajeel being bombarded with questions from Natsu and Grey, with Elfman shouting about manliness every once in a while.

Levy almost felt sorry for him, until he stood up and proceeded to throw each of them into a different wall.

She smirked when he sat back down to claim his breakfast which Mira had placed on the bar.

"So, what was that about ignoring them?"

"Shaddup." He muttered.

Soon after, Mira brought out her drink. She gulped it down surprisingly fast despite the heat.

Levy placed her mug on the table and sighed, before turning to look at Gajeel.

"_Makarov should be coming soon. We should probably tell him when he arrives." _The idea made her feel very uncomfortable, but she knew it had to be done. He needed to know.

"Hey, Gajeel."

The man turned towards her, a pierced eyebrow raised with a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth.

She grimaced at the sight but leaned closer since she didn't want anyone to overhear.

"Uh...I was wondering, what we were going to do when master got here." She said quietly.

The man swallowed the rest of his bacon and also leaned forward. "Just tell him enough so he gets the idea. Ya don't have to say everything."

Levy frowned. She didn't think she would be able to handle telling another person just yet.

Gajeel seemed to understand her discomfort and leaned in further so that they were almost nose to nose. She widened her eyes but didn't move away.

"Ya want me to talk to him?" He asked.

"_Too close, too close!" _She thought, but she could only nod her head.

Gajeel returned the nod and leaned away to continue eating. She exhaled the breath she had been holding before realizing that the whole thing between her and Gajeel had been watched by the entire circus.

Her mouth fell open and her cheeks turned red at the sound of wolf whistles and cat calls from around the big top. The man beside her didn't seem to notice and she gaped. _"How can he be so oblivious?! Or maybe he doesn't care?"_

Levy's thoughts were interrupted when Makarov suddenly entered the big top wearing a rather ridiculous puffy orange jacket. She shared a glance with Gajeel and they both stood and walked towards the old man.

"Oye." Gajeel said as they approached him.

Makarov turned towards them and raised both eyebrows when he saw their headgear. Levy blushed again and avoided his gaze, but her roommate ignored him.

"We need a word."

The old man raised a brow but nodded. Gajeel turned towards her, his expression serious. She was feeling very uncomfortable now, and it seemed to show as his eyes widened.

"Ya don't have to say anythin' shrimp." He mumbled as he moved to walk past her.

"_Thank god."_ Levy thought in relief and she walked back to the bar to read her book. As Gajeel and Makarov ascended the stairs, she opened her book and began to read, glad that someone else was there to explain things. _"I would probably just break down again. Better to let the stronger ones handle it." _She thought bitterly.

The sound of a commotion near the entrance then had her head snapping up. She looked around in confusion. "_What the heck is happening __**now**__?"_

Levy pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and walked over to the gathering crowd of circus members. She pushed past people so that she could see, and ended up standing next to Lucy, who was hugging Plue with a nervous frown on her face.

She turned her attention to the figure at the centre of it all and her eyes widened. "_Mystogan?"_

The man stood before them, his face barely covered with his usual disguise and his blue hair stiuck out messily from under his cap. He seemed to have abandoned the bandanna that was usually covering his face and his clothes were torn in places. What little skin she could see was purple with bruises.

The blue haired man seemed to stare directly at her as he spoke the next words loud and clear.

"We have company."

**And thats it for chapter 14, will be back next time with chapter 15! :D I hope you guys liked it, please review and let me know what you think or if i made any mistakes!**

**Cheerio!**


	15. Chapter 15

***pushes hand out of the earth* IM aliiivee! Hello my lovelies, I have returned to gift you with a brand new chapter of FTC! I am so sorry for neglecting you all, my last year of high school is super busy and quite hard, and I have been fighting against some writers block but I think I finally managed to push past it.**

**This chapter is practically in honour of the new Fairy Tail OVA, which I am so excited about because there was so much GaLe! If you haven't seen the trailer then go and watch it now! **

**Also I started a new story so I was also rather busy with that, but I think you guys will forgive me if you read this chapter...**

**Anywho, please read, review and let me know what you think! (and thanks mysterious guest for pointing out my mistake, it wasn't a test but you still passed with flying colours :D)**

**...**

He was late.

He was _very _late. Pretty much everyone knew that his boss was not a patient man and if he didn't get there soon then he could very well be thrown out.

"_Or worse."_ He thought with steadily rising dread.

He ran up the nearest set of stairs and darted to his left through a long hallway, not bothering to apologise to anyone he bumped into. He was in too much of a hurry for that.

After running down another hallway he came to a stop before a large door. Taking a moment to compose himself, he settled into his usual laid back attitude and forced a mask of calm across his face before knocking on the smooth wood.

The door creaked open and he walked in, lowering his head in a brief greeting as he stopped a few feet away from a large desk.

"You're late."

He winced from the harsh tone but managed to keep his expression neutral. "I've been busy with work."

A sharp chuckle sounded from the chair behind the desk. "You seem to always come running late with excuses. Not this time though, hm? I must admit that your tardiness has started to grate on my nerves. I did give you this job, and I can take it away easily."

He gripped the weapon that he kept strapped to his hip and bit his lip nervously. "It won't happen again."

The voice went on as if he hadn't spoken. "Did you find him?"

He nodded. "Yes and we also located the girl. Unfortunately he managed to escape."

A sigh of irritation. "You had _one _job to do, o_ne job. _But I assume you know where he is."

He gave a stiff nod in response and the voice continued.

"I suppose that is rather useful. Have the girl silenced; I don't want the authorities onto us. Apart from that, is everything going according to plan?"

He bobbed his head. "We are all ready to get started on your word."

"Good. You know what to do."

He turned and began to leave, keeping a calm air around him, though on the inside his heart was hammering hard against his chest.

When his hand was on the door handle he breathed a sigh of relief and fought the urge to bolt outside.

"Totomaru."

He turned, shuddering at the sight of a glinting grin in the room of shadows. The dark shapes seemed to loom over him maliciously and the view gave him goose bumps.

"Do not be late again."

Totomaru nodded before closing the door behind him and running down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him, wanting to get as far away as possible.

…

Gajeel glanced at Levy before turning to tramp up the stairs after Makarov.

"_..This should be shrimps job..." _He thought to himself as he wondered where to start. He mentally scolded himself as soon as the words popped into his mind, knowing that Levy was far too upset to manage it herself. She had enough on her mind already.

Knowing that he was involved in her past was unnerving, and the first time he heard it he had been so pissed off that he wanted to walk right up to Jose and give him the beating of a life time.

Levy. Sweet, innocent little Levy should never have had to go through the things that Phantom did to her. The very idea had uncontrollable rage bubbling up inside him and made him feel-

"_Wait what?! I'm thinking about my god damned fucking __**feelings **__now?!"_ Gajeel thought with a quick shake of his head as he continued up the stairs.

_"What is that woman __**doing **__to me?!"_

Gajeel didn't have time to ponder his inner turmoil's as he reached the second floor. Before him, Makarov had stopped and was now looking at him expectantly with a raised eyebrow.

He awkwardly reached up to drag his hand through his hair but stopped at the last-minute, remembering that he now had Shrimp's bandanna on his head.

"Well?" Makarov asked. "What is it?"

Gajeel shoved his hands deep into his pockets and leaned his back against the railing. "Shorty told me that she had a bit of a...history with Phantom." He said uneasily.

The old man's gaze hardened and his brows furrowed sharply. "What kind of history?"

He met his hard look with one of his own. "Not a nice one, that's for sure."

Makarov folded his arms across his chest and walked forward to look onto the scene below.

"Did you have anything to do with it?"

Gajeel's eyes widened and he bristled. "Hell no old man! I was nowhere near her. I had no idea this was even happening."

Makarov nodded his head slightly. "So, she will not come to speak with me herself?"

He shook his head and looked over the railing, automatically searching out the familiar head of blue hair in the crowd. He found the bluenett sitting at the bar with her head in a book, as usual.

"With the way she is now, she can't even think about it without shaking like a leaf."

He didn't notice Makarov glance at him with his mouth twitched upwards. "You care about her."

Gajeel opened his mouth to shoot out a defensive retort, but found that he was quite lost for words.

The old man smiled smugly at him. "About time you found someone...You have been alone for too long."

He shot the old man a sharp look. "What the hell are you on about ya crazy geezer? Lily has been around, and Juvia." He said incredulously.

"You know that's not what I meant at all, idiot child." Makarov chuckled a little at Gajeel's irked expression.

With an irritated huff, he turned to cross his arms over the railing, his gaze still on Levy. "Will ya stop with that kid shit already? I'm nineteen for god's sake."

The old man beside him just chuckled a little before letting a serious expression return to his face.

"It seems that Phantom was up to more trouble then I first realised." He muttered. "So what actually happened?"

Gajeel averted his eyes from the first floor. "Her parents were targeted by them for some reason. She doesn't know why, but afterwards they took her."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Makarov's gaze harden and fists clench.

He opened his mouth to continue, when a commotion downstairs interrupted him. He turned his eyes back to the first floor and frowned. _"What the hell could be happening __**now**__?!"_

From his place on the second floor, he could see the circus members gathered near the entrance. In the centre he could make out what looked like the familiar figure of Mystogan.

The canvas that usually acted as a door into the big top had begun to flap around from the wild autumn wind outside, sending a couple of chilly blasts of air inside and he shuddered.

"What's going on down there?" Makarov asked.

Gajeel looked down and, despite the serious situation below, fought the urge to chuckle at the old man, who was jumping up and down in an attempt to see what was going on.

"_Must be how shrimp feels." _He thought before clearing his throat to stop himself from laughing. It was certainly not the time for that.

"Don't know, but it doesn't look good."

Gajeel straightened and, assuming the conversation was over for now, began to walk back down the stairs.

When he reached the first floor he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards the crowd near the entrance, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he caught some snippets of conversation.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked when he reached them.

Grey, who stood closest to his left, looked up at him with a serious expression. "Do you really want to know? Because I don't think you're gonna like it."

Juvia, who was clinging to Grey's arm, looked a little too tense for his comfort. He had only seen her look like that on a few occasions, and the thought made him narrow his eyes.

It was then that Mystogan pushed through the crowd, probably heading for Porlyusica, but came to a halt when he reached him and Juvia.

Gajeel widened his eyes. "Jesus, what happened to you?"

The hypnotist clenched his fists. "Phantom. I was wandering around Magnolia and they recognised me."

Burning rage and panic set in. "Those _bastards!"_ he spat out angrily.

He wanted to break something, more specifically he wanted to go and crack some Phantom skulls. He knew that it was that it was obviously a reckless and stupid thing to do, but did he care?

Honestly, right now, he didn't give a single shit.

Those words pretty much summed up what he was thinking as he barged his way through the mass of people, completely ignoring the shouts for him to calm down and to stop and think.

He had almost reached the front, when someone moved to stand in his way.

"Move it." He growled menacingly, not caring at that moment who it was that was trying to stop him.

"_You_ will wait and not move until Master says so!" Erza said a little too calmly.

Gajeel leaned back when she inched the tip of a sword in his direction. In that time he glanced at her face…and immediately wished he hadn't.

She glared at him, her eyes burning with barely supressed rage and her mouth was pulled to the side in a snarl. She looked like she wanted to slaughter Phantom just as badly as he did, though she seemed to have a little more control over her anger.

He wasn't going to back down, even when she still refused to move out of the way so they ended up staring each other down, him in defiance and her in authority.

Thankfully, Mystogan decided to choose that moment to appear beside them. He placed a hand on the fiery red head's shoulder, his face a deadly calm.

"Erza…"

"They hurt you." She hissed through her teeth, though she lowered her sword and Gajeel released the breath he had held.

"Listen to your own words, Erza. We have to wait for Makarov decide what is best, and I don't think that gutting our own will help the situation." Mystogan muttered wisely.

Erza lowered her head in a nod, though her fists still shook with anger. She looked like she was going to attack the first thing that pissed her off, which probably meant it was going to be him if he didn't move as fast as possible.

He began to walk away, his body still rigid with gradually building up rage. He didn't really know what to do with himself as he just continued to walk, not really seeing where he was going.

He was brought out of his anger-fuelled trance when he bumped into someone.

He was about to shoot a retort, but the words died in his mouth when he realised that it was Natsu. The usually hyperactive and overly enthusiastic teen was slouched against the bar with his arm still in a sling. An angry yet slightly depressed expression was on his face and Blondie sat by his side, holding his good hand. A quick glance showed Happy sitting at his feet, holding Natsu's fire stick.

If it had been any other time he would have teased the crap out of them, but considering the current situation they were in, he decided to just leave it alone.

He almost immediately made a split second decision that if he was going to beat some people up, then he had better have a couple of drinks first.

He made a bee-line towards the end of the bar his sight zeroed in on a bottle of beer sitting unopened on the counter, but just as he went to grab it someone else stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

He closed his eyes and growled in irritation. "_Why won't people just stop getting in my way?"_

"Gajeel?"

He looked down into the face of Wendy, who was staring up at him with her face riddled with concern. A quick glance over her head showed Carla hovering nearby, keeping an eye on her.

"Um...are you okay? What are you doing?" She asked quickly while wringing her hands nervously.

Gajeel tried to shoot her a glare, though he ended up failing miserably. He always did have a soft spot for the little trapeze aritst. "I'm getting' a drink. And yea, I'm fine. Why?"

Wendy continued to stare at him. "Because, you don't _look _okay, Gajeel."

"_Why the hell is she always so...right?" _Gajeel thought in mild irritation.

She continued to stare at him until it began to get on his nerves. Eventually he huffed and knelt to become eye level with her.

"What do you want?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"How do you feel about Levy?"

Gajeel had no explanation of how he reacted next. He cursed as he almost lost his balance and his face practically burst into flames. He managed to catch himself before he landed on his bum before the whole circus and turned his incredulous gaze on Wendy.

"What the hell, squirt?! What does this have to do with anything?"

Wendy beamed at him. "I knew it!"

Gajeel glared at her in confusion, "…what?"

The little girl puffed out her cheeks in a rather adorable display of annoyance. "If you didn't like Levy, you probably wouldn't have reacted that way. You know, turning purple like a beetroot and getting easily flustered is one of the obvious signs of liking someone. And that you're not denying it…"

He scoffed. "Seriously? That's what you're thinkin' about at a time like this?" He looked around warily.

"And keep yer voice down."

Wendy raised an eyebrow. "But Gajeel, everyone pretty much guessed already…"

"…Oh…"

He honestly wasn't too surprised about that. The people in this place had ears everywhere (figuratively speaking, of course). It was most likely Mira and the gossip squad spreading rumours everywhere. Not to mention that shrimp lived with him.

Gajeel continued to stare at Wendy expectantly but when she just stood there, he straightened up to leave.

He stopped when she suddenly grabbed his wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

He looked down and frowned at her unexpected behaviour,

"Do ya need your ears cleaned out squirt? I'm gettin' a drink."

She gave him an uncharacteristic frown. "There's no time for that, you need to see Levy! And we both know that drinking alcohol before something like this is an idiotic thing to do. I have seen it plenty of times."

"Why do you care?" He snapped rather harshly.

He felt surprised when she glared at him. On such a cute little face, it was actually rather frightening.

"It doesn't matter why. I know you don't see it Gajeel, but we all care and worry for you and each other."

She flicked a glance over his shoulder. "And that goes for Levy too. I see that you worry and that you care like the rest of us even though you don't show it, so go and sit with her." She said sternly with wisdom beyond her years.

Gajeel, once again, found himself utterly speechless. Before he realised something and chose the moment to snap at the little girl.

"Why won't you all stop bloody prying in my personal life?!" He hissed.

Wendy was about to reply when a harsh voice cut over her.

"Stop poisoning her mind and go already!" Carla growled menacingly before reaching to whack him over the head.

Gajeel easily dodged her attempt and glanced at Wendy before walking away in the opposite direction from the beer.

_"She does have a point…"_ He thought. At first having a couple of drinks hadn't seemed like such a bad idea. However, he knew that he would end up regretting it later.

He stopped when he realized that he was wandering around aimlessly again. No, not aimlessly. He was subconsciously trying to _avoid _something, and he quickly figured out what it was when he spotted a familiar little bluenett.

If Gajeel knew one thing about himself, it was that he absolutely sucked at dealing with other people's emotions. Girls crying was definitely one that made him very uncomfortable, and that was exactly how he felt when he saw Levy sitting with her back to him on one of the benches in a secluded corner by the stage.

"_Ah shit…"_ He thought guiltily when he saw her shoulders shaking. In his moment of anger he had almost completely forgotten about her and how she was probably reacting to everything.

He glanced around awkwardly. Seeing that everyone else was too occupied with their own problems he took his chance and strode over to where Levy was sitting.

Gajeel hesitated a few feet away when he saw her lean her arms on the table and rest her head on top of them. He guessed that like him, she'd had a bad night's sleep. The thought set off a small yawn and he quickly covered it up before moving forward to sit down.

Levy jumped when he sat heavily on the bench and he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly when he saw her face, not knowing what to say.

She stared at him through red eyes that were slightly bloodshot from crying. The dark circles under her eyes showed that she had slept restlessly and they gave her a haunted look that he didn't like the look of.

"Hey." He said unsurely.

She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Hello."

"Are you…?" He found himself struggling to find the right words, though she ended up beating him to it.

"I'm fine." Levy muttered before laying her head on the table.

He frowned. "You don't look fine." He said before deepening his frown at the sight of her head on the hard wood.

"Had a rough sleep, huh?"

She simply dragged in a breath and let out a sigh whilst shrugging her shoulders in response.

Gajeel sighed and leaned his head in his hand. Once again, he was clueless about what he should do.

He soon found himself staring at Levy. Her eyes had now closed but he could tell that she wasn't sleeping since the tables only ever made good beds after a bar brawl where everyone just ended up passing out on them.

He continued to look at her face until she began to frown and shift herself on the table to make herself more comfortable, without much success.

Gajeel at that moment was having inner conflicts with himself, before finally settling with, "_Ah, what the hell."_

He reached out towards Levy and placed a hand on her arm, ignoring her small squeak of surprise as he pulled her towards him and placed her head on his shoulder.

He draped an arm around her waist when she tried to wiggle away.

"Gajeel! What are you _doing?"_ She hissed.

He could practically feel the heat radiating from her face and tried to ignore the fact that his was doing the same by rolling his eyes and coughing. The muttering from behind him obviously wasn't making it any better.

"Seriously…what are you doing?" Levy asked again, though she had begun to sound a little drowsy.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Better than that bloody table, so be quiet and go to sleep." He said gruffly.

She yawned through a small giggle. "Not by much, your arms are too flabby."

Gajeel let out a small grunt of laughter and jostled his arm so that her head bounced around. She responded with a round of complaints and he grinned when he heard a few curse words.

"Oi, go to sleep already or you can just use the goddamned table again." He heard a small huff of laughter before Levy fell silent.

He glanced at her and his mouth quirked upwards at the sight of her sleeping soundly against his left shoulder. Her eyes were moving behind her lids and he dreaded to think what she was dreaming about.

With a small grunt, Gajeel repositioned himself so that he was leaning against the wall and he let his head fall back against the wood.

From where he was sitting he could see everything. But the table was wedged up close beside the stage so not many people could see him which he was quite happy about.

Elfman was helping his sister to move some barrels to the back room; Grey was actually giving in to Juvia's attempts in going out with him by letting her within a five metre radius, which Gajeel found quite amusing.

Laxus and Guildarts were trying to pry a large glass of beer from Cana, who was clinging onto it and complaining that they was stealing her boyfriend. Freid was sitting with Bixlow and Evergreen chatting about random things while Natsu and Lucy were still in the same place as before, except they now had their heads close and were talking quietly.

Gajeel rolled his eyes when he saw Happy attempting to chat up Carla. "_If he offers her one more fish, he's gonna get a slap." _He thought with a small grin.

The rest of the circus members were off doing their own things. Most likely training. Though that wasn't such a good idea with the weather outside as it had gotten much worse and he could now hear the tent creaking and groaning in the strong wind. It was very unnerving.

Gajeel slumped against the wall and glanced at Levy. She looked fairly comfortable and was even smiling a little in her sleep. He let his eyes take in every detail of her face and he held his breath a little when she grabbed his shirt, relaxing again when she continued to breathe deeply.

He slowly moved his free hand up to brush away a few strands of blue hair that had fallen over her eyes. He let it rest there, cupping her chin as he moved his thumb in gentle circles on her cheek.

"_She really is too good for you."_ Gajeel thought with a sigh before reluctantly dropping his arm so that it lay across his torso.

"_Should probably send Lily a message later_." He thought absently as he leaned his head further back, though he still kept his eyes on Levy.

He let his eyes slip shut. He'd had a pretty bad sleep last night as well, made obvious by the dark circles under his eyes and that he was quick to become irritated. A lot had happened over the last few days and he hoped that it would be done soon so that everyone could actually get on with their lives.

He briefly wondered if all Phantom did these days was plot against them because of boredom before gradually falling asleep.

…

Gajeel was woken up when he felt movement beside him and he groaned as he opened his eyes.

Levy was still beside him, only now she was awake and stretching, her joints cracking audibly as she did so. A quick glance around showed a few circus members gathered in small groups talking casually.

He followed shrimp's example and did the same, letting out a sigh as his own joints popped. He opened his eyes again to see Levy smiling at him through bleary eyes.

"Nice sleep?" She asked whilst letting out a mighty yawn.

Gajeel grumbled and placed his hands on his face. "No, and it's all your fault."

She frowned at him. "How is it my fault? Did you sleep at a weird angle?"

He shook his head. "It's not that…"

He moved to lean his head on his arms, smirking a little at her confused expression.

"I had a freakin' nightmare that I had flabby arms."

Gajeel grinned as Levy burst into laughter, the sound echoing in his ears like bells. He hadn't heard her laugh for a while and had forgotten how nice it was.

"Well I suppose that's what happens when you don't train enough." She giggled.

He was about to reply when a large gust of wind swept in through the open doorway, almost knocking a few people off their feet. The big top was now straining against the ropes and ties that held it down, the structure groaning under the pressure.

He frowned. "We should head back, though I don't like the look of that weather." He muttered cautiously.

"I don't fancy being blown away by a hurricane." Levy said dryly.

He grinned down at her, flashing his canines. "That's what I'm here for shrimp."

Gajeel stood and began to walk around the bench with his back towards Levy, hearing her get up to follow. That was when he heard a shocked gasp from behind him.

He whipped his head around in time to see her sway and stumble over the bench. Before he realised what he was doing, he had grabbed her hand and had hauled her up before she hit the floor.

They stared at each other with matching expressions of surprise on their faces.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern.

She nodded with wide eyes. "Yea, I think I just stood up too fast. It made me dizzy."

"Right, well we should probably…"Gajeel stopped, furrowing his brows in confusion when she looked down and her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He followed her gaze and saw that they were still holding hands.

"…ah…" He said awkwardly. His heart had begun to beat faster and her face was steadily turning a deep shade of red, though he didn't release her hand and she didn't let go of his. Levy's deep brown eyes stared into his red ones and she stepped a little closer.

_"What are you doing?! Back off, back off!"_ A voice in the back of his mind screamed at him but he wasn't listening. He let one of his hands reach up to caress her cheek as he leaned forward.

Levy continued to stare into his eyes as she grabbed the collar of his jacket and began to pull him to her height. He was slightly surprised by her sudden boldness but didn't pull away, instead moving his hand so that it was resting on the side of her neck.

"_It is not the time for this; you are going to regret it!"_

Gajeel briefly told his inner voice to "_get stuffed,"_ before closing his eyes and pressing his lips against Levy's.

She sighed against his lips and he let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he began to kiss her roughly.

She kissed him back and gripped his jacket tightly with her other hand, pulling him down so that he could deepen the kiss.

Just as things were getting a little heated, a loud "ahem!" sounded from behind him and they abruptly pulled away from each other, panting heavily with flushed faces. He shot her a devilish grin and she smiled at him sheepishly.

Levy glanced behind him and her eyes shot wide open.

He frowned and turned around, not really having the breath to ask what was wrong. His good mood plummeted when he saw Jet and Droy pointing right at them with mouths gaping open.

"Oh _shit!"_ He hissed and proceeded to make some threatening gestures at them. They soon shook themselves out of their shocked states and realised that he was probably going to snap their necks if they didn't get the hell out of there, and they were soon racing away to probably go and hide somewhere.

Gajeel breathed out in relief and Levy laughed awkwardly beside him. He still had an arm around her waist and she was still clinging to his jacket tightly.

He rubbed the back of his neck and cursed quietly when his face began to heat up again.

"…so…"

She looked up and grinned slyly. "I didn't know you were one to get embarrassed."

He forced a glare onto his face and tried to ignore his rising blood pressure. His face was heating up so rapidly that someone could probably cook an egg on his forehead.

"Hypocrite." He muttered before sitting back down on the bench, pulling her with him. She smiled awkwardly when he wrapped an arm around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. He let her lean back so that she was resting against his side and she giggled when he let out a puff of air that tickled her neck.

"If those two say anything I will make sure they die slowly and painfully." He said sarcastically.

Levy let out a snort, "Don't do that, or Erza and Mira will make you regret it."

He winced when he imagined a number of scenarios where Erza and Mira would torture him mercilessly. "Good point."

They sat in silence for a little while, listening to the chatter from the other circus members who were scattered around the big top, and the slightly disturbing sound of the big top straining against its bonds in the strong gales outside.

Gajeel had actually begun to drift off again when Levy stiffened beside him. He looked at her face and furrowed his brows in confusion at her expression. She was frowning and breathing deeply.

"Do you smell that?"

He sat up and sniffed a few times. "Yea," He said when he smelt something oddly familiar.

"_What is that?"_ He thought with suspicion and stood up. Levy was quick to follow and he crouched next to one of the walls where the smell was at its strongest.

He took a deep breath and nearly recoiled at the smell before stepping back to stand next to Levy, his face was a mask of serious concern and confusion.

"I don't think we should hang around for much longer." He said and she gave him a worried glance.

"What is it?"

"It smells like-"

He was abruptly cut off as the world around them suddenly exploded into flames and chaos.

**O.O well that escalated quickly! :D I was debating whether I should wait for them to kiss but decided that you guys have waited long enough (haha...I cant write kiss scenes very well, im sorry *sobs*)! I also haven't used certain characters so I gave little Wendy some screen time.**

**please review and let me know what you think! and please don't come at me with pitchforks and torches, I swear I have briefly returned! AND OHMYGAWD you guys thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows and for putting up with me for so long, you guys are the best, I am practically tearing up right now.**

**Cheerio my lovelies!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello my lovelies! Lovely to see you all again, got an especially long and exciting one for you today. Unfortunately this will be the last chapter for a little while as exams are just around the corner...ugh horrible. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and I hope to post up another as soon as exams are over!**

**:D**

**...**

It was black and silent when she cracked her eyes open. Dusty and so dark that she could only just make out her surroundings. She sniffed and the action made her cough when she inhaled dust and something else…smoke.

"…_What on earth?" _She thought through the fog that plagued her mind. The last thing she remembered was being able to smell that strange scent near the back of the stage and then…then what? She struggled for a moment to recall those last few moments.

Her eyes flew open suddenly. "_Gajeel went to investigate, then…" _Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach when the burning heat from the explosion registered in her mind. Everything had turned black after that. Now, however, she could dimly make out her surroundings. The charred, splintered wood and heavy canvas that surrounded her didn't look too promising. She put two and two together and frowned when she realized why that smell had been so familiar. Gasoline.

Levy attempted to sit up, but immediately stopped when a sharp pain shot through her head. She hissed and let her head fall back against the ground. It wasn't just the pain that stopped her from sitting up, there was also something very heavy on top of her, stopping her movements. Panic slowly began to set in.

"_Why must trouble follow me everywhere?"_ She thought in mild annoyance, before deciding that she had to get out of there, fast. There were people who needed her, Fairy Tail needed her, but first, she had to get out from under this bloody heavy object.

Making sure not to jar her head, Levy braced her hands against it and pushed. It took much effort to lift it an inch and she was soon left exhausted.

"…Shit…" She panted and let go. The object landed roughly on her stomach and she let out a small cough when the air got knocked out of her as a result.

The deep, muffled groan that did not come from her was not what she had expected and she jerked in surprise, the abrupt movement causing another jolt of pain to run up her head.

She winced and managed to push herself on her elbows. Blinking, she could make out the rough shape of the object that was now groaning and moving_._

She sucked in a shocked breath when she realized that it was Gajeel and that he was practically _lying on top of her! _Levy took a few deep breaths to calm herself, though her face was most likely going to spontaneously combust, before taking a closer look at him.

He was half sprawled over her with his head lying on her stomach, "…_So that's what it was…" _with his face turned towards her. His eyes were half-open and seemed more dazed, and not unconscious. She found herself gazing at him, momentarily left thinking about that kiss…about how it felt to have his lips on hers.

He had _kissed _her, the man she lived with that was emotionally constipated for all the time she had known him had _actually kissed her!_ Her mind still refused to believe what had happened. Cana had been right so far after all. Her thoughts abruptly turned to her current situation and she mentally slapped herself for thinking such things at a time like this.

Her small daydream was short-lived when she saw the splinters of wood embedded in his back and shoulders. Levy let out a little panicked squeak and glanced over the wounds. She could not see how deep they were at this angle and the dark colour of his jacket was making it hard to make out anything, though she could see something darker beginning to leak into the t-shirt he wore underneath.

She frowned, wondering why she was almost unharmed whilst he was lying injured. She soon guessed why. Levy was suddenly consumed with a fierce annoyance and she began to sit up, ignoring her pounding headache.

"Throwing yourself in front of me…" She hissed angrily, "…Will just lead to you getting hurt, stupid Gajeel!"

She slid out from under him, catching his head before it could hit the ground, and glared at him. The explosion had happened so fast that she hadn't seen Gajeel push her to the ground before the wood burst apart in front of them, nor had she felt the impact of her head hitting the bench, or him protecting her from the wooden splinters that now littered his back, but Levy easily guessed what happened.

She huffed and began to gently slap his cheek, hoping that he would snap out of his daze. He did nothing and she gritted her teeth at the lump that was forming in her throat. Her throbbing head wasn't helping the situation either.

"No, no, no! Gajeel you have to wake up, and we have to get out of here! There are people who need us! I need you-"Levy abruptly stopped and clenched her jaw at the tears that were threatening to come out.

"_I won't cry…I have cried enough. Not anymore!"_ She thought with determination.

She settled for wiping her eyes and glanced at his wounds. Those splinters needed removing.

Levy once again gritted her teeth and reached out towards a large slice of wood that jutted out from his collarbone and gave it an experimental pull.

"AAAGH FUCK!"

Levy reeled backwards, her eyes opening wide when Gajeel shot up like a jack-rabbit, and flinched when she saw the splinter had dislodged from his back and was now in her hand. Her hands shook as she dropped it and she looked up at him, relief filling her almost instantly.

His quick ascent ended with his head colliding against the wood and debris that created a jagged roof over them and was now swearing loudly and rapidly, some of the words she hadn't even heard of. But apart from that he seemed fine…well, as fine as the gruff man usually would be.

Levy stood up and shakily reached to grab him by the front of his jacket, being careful not to remove any more of the splinters in the process.

She obviously took him by surprise because as soon as she made contact, he whirled around to face her, knocking her off-balance slightly.

"Gajeel!" She shrieked at him even though she was able to catch herself. Levy glared up at his confused expression before launching a huge rant on him.

She jabbed her finger at his face. "How _dare _you? I do not need protecting like… like a Child! I am an adult and can take care of myself perfectly fine! And now look at you!" She gestured at the length of his body and his ripped and charred clothes, "You ended up injured! I am small, but I most certainly am not weak! And I'll not be constantly watched over!"

Gajeel stared at her through half lidded eyes, confused until she saw her words sink in. He levelled a rather hurt glare at her.

"What are you talkin' about Levy?! Ya think I would just _let _you get hurt? The wall fucking _exploded_ for god's sake-!"

Gajeel abruptly stopped talking and made a strangled choking noise before falling to his knees.

"Gajeel!" Levy screeched again and rushed towards him when he began to start coughing horribly. She placed her hands on either side of his head and lifted it up until she was looking at his face.

"Seriously Gajeel that is the last time you go jumping in front of me like that." She said with concern lacing her voice.

He shot her a lopsided grin that sent her stomach spinning. "Aint the way I work, shorty. Yer gonna have to put up with it if ya plan on sticking with me." He finished with a grimace.

Levy rolled her eyes and poked him in the shoulder. "Idiot, doing that will just make you more injured than you already are, now hold still, I need to get those splinters out."

She went to reach for a particularly large slice of wood sticking out from below his shoulder, but his firm grip on her wrist stopped her. She shot a small glare at Gajeel, who was giving her one in return.

"I don't need help."

"Oh _sure_." She huffed with sarcasm that hardly fit the situation. "Do you _want _to get an infection? If you leave them then you will get one and believe me, they are horrible. Take it from someone who has experience."

He had been about to retort but snapped his mouth shut at her words. Reluctantly, he nodded and turned so that his back was facing her. She pushed away at the little swell of guilt and instead replaced it with concern.

Levy breathed out in relief at the sight of his back. The splinters weren't deep and there weren't as many as she first thought. Slowly, she reached up and curled her hand around a shard of wood and began to pull. Gajeel hissed in pain and his muscles tensed as she slid it out.

She dropped it on the ground beside her, purposely ignoring the sticky blood on the end, and went to pull out another.

Levy continued this process in a trance and found her thoughts turning to the others. She frowned in concern. "_Are they all alright?_ _Where are they?_ She thought, worry beginning to eat at her from the inside out.

She hadn't even realized that all the splinters were gone until she was face to face with Gajeel, his expression similar to her own.

He hesitantly reached up to place his hand on her head, His fingers tangling themselves in her unruly hair. "What's eatin' ya Shrimp?"

She let herself relax briefly into his touch and bit her lip nervously. "The others…we need to find them and make sure they are safe, we can't just sit there an-Ouch!"

Levy let out a rather loud exclamation when Gajeel's hand pressed on the tender spot on her head. She flinched away and held her head, tears pricking her eyes as her skull began to throb and ache again.

Gajeel seemed to get into a slight panic and momentarily flapped his arms around, not knowing how to handle the situation. Levy closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something else, though the pounding near the back of her head made it difficult.

Rough hands were suddenly in her hair again and she growled in mild annoyance before trying to pull away. She didn't want a repeat of what had just happened and was about to tell him so, but found that the words caught in her throat when he pulled her forward gently to rest her head against his chest.

Her eyes bulged when he wrapped his large arms around her shoulders, easily engulfing her smaller body.

He coughed awkwardly, "…Ah, sorry. I shoulda guessed you were hurt somewhere…"

Levy smiled a little. She found his attempt at comforting her rather endearing.

"Well, a big, clumsy oaf did land on me you know."

He responded with a playful flick to her forehead. It was strange that they seemed to find humour even in the worst situations.

His breath tickled her ear when he sighed. "We need to go, c'mon."

Levy gripped his jacket tighter for a second before reluctantly releasing it and nodding. She honestly didn't want to leave just yet, mainly because she was afraid. Afraid of what was awaiting them when they got out. That was, _if _they got out.

He moved to stand and she followed slowly, not wanting to make herself dizzy.

When they had risen, Levy took a look around, Gajeel doing the same.

Their escape would not be an easy one. The blackened wood from the wall was completely shattered and piled around them, the sharpened ends looking deadly in the gloom. The brightly coloured canvas that once made up the exterior of the big top poked through some shards of wood, now sooty black and burnt.

They searched in silence for some sort of weak point, Gajeel having to stop a couple of times as his wounds were giving him trouble. Levy continued to search, almost to the point where she was completely exhausted.

After at least an hour of searching, Levy sat down, defeated and feeling miserable.

"This _can't _be it! There has must be another way." She murmured, more to herself than Gajeel, who had moved to sit on her left. He growled and let out a small curse as the movement stretched his wounds.

"I could force my way through." He said as he glanced around the intimidating structure.

She shot him a dry look. "And get impaled on that wood? Not a very logical plan."

He growled in frustration and reached up to rake a hand through his hair, whilst Levy turned away absent-mindedly.

She continued to scan the wood for a gap, _anything _that looked like some sort of escape route.

"_Nope…Nope. Argh! This is absolutely hopeless!" _She thought to herself angrily.

But wait. There out of the corner of her eye, there was something. She turned and stared intently at the spot high above her head. "_Am I hallucinating? I'm sure I saw…"_

There! That glimmer of light, just filtering in between the wood. Hope filled her and she leapt up, startling Gajeel out of his heavy brooding, and felt around until she had a hard grip on his shirt.

"Jesus shorty what is it?!" He shouted as he surged to his feet, his eyes wide with surprise.

She gestured wildly at the light that was steadily filling the space they were standing in. "There! Gajeel look, our way out!" She shouted with excitement.

Gajeel bent forward and peered upwards at the light, anticipation covering his features. Levy's grin faltered when his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"That's not daylight…"

She frowned at him. "What are you talking about, what else could it be?"

He rose to his full height and continued his intense stare. "Move back Levy."

Levy looked at him, puzzled. "But we…why? How can you be so sure?"

Her view was suddenly blocked when Gajeel reached over and pulled her close to him.

"Because. Daylight doesn't make smoke."

Cold dread filled Levy and she sucked in a breath in response. The fresh smell of smoke filled the air and she grabbed the closest thing she could reach, Gajeel's hand. He gripped it tight and smiled grimly, the light shone brighter and glinted off his piercings, almost making his face glow. She momentarily guessed that she probably looked the same.

"Levy."

The space started to fill with the stench of smoke and she coughed, clearing her throat before answering with a croaky "Yes?"

His gaze hardened and he looked like he was fighting the urge to cough. "Don't leave my side, got that?"

"_Don't leave my side…" _The words seemed to repeat themselves through her mind before she finally nodded, her expression hardening.

"As long as you don't leave mine." He gave her a grin that exposed his large canines before they both turned to face the presumed danger before them.

Levy watched with rapidly building fear and worry as the light became even brighter, so much that she had to squint her eyes. The light began to eat away at the wood, burning until they were full flames that surged across the debris over their heads.

She could feel Gajeel tense, ready to jump to defend her and she, despite the serious situation, fought the urge to roll her eyes and scold him for it, but she didn't have the heart to do so, and this wasn't the time to start an argument.

"Shit!" Gajeel suddenly shouted before throwing himself over her as the debris that made up the roof began to fall away around them.

She cowered under him and hugged his waist for support, the wood crackling and popping as it collapsed under the burning fire, and then-

"Yo lovebirds!"

"_Wait…what?!"_ Both of them snapped their heads up at the familiar voice. Standing on the smouldering wood was a man… with pink hair.

"We have been lookin' for ya for hours! And when I _do _find you, you're all wrapped up in a little love fest. Better than what we have done I suppose." Natsu said loudly from above them, a cocky smirk plastered all over his face while he wielded a flamethrower.

A smaller figure appeared on his other side. The shadow eventually taking the form of Juvia, who was holding what looked like some sort of heavy-duty water gun.

She grinned down at them in relief. "Thank goodness! Juvia was beginning to fear the worst for you, but here you are!" She then let a little worried frown cross her face.

"Although, Juvia does not quite agree with this plan…"

Levy gaped up at them. Natsu had rid himself of the sling, his arm now loosely wrapped in a few bandages and his clothes covered in soot. Juvia also had a fine layer of soot covering her usual blue exterior, but didn't seem injured at all, though Levy was still too shocked to actually express any relief or gratitude.

Natsu smirked at their expressions and turned to yell over his shoulder.

"Guys! We found them, over here!" He looked pointedly into the distance, as if receiving instructions, before turning back to face them.

Levy was still stunned speechless. Gajeel had now released her and was glowering at Natsu. " Are you a complete fucking _idiot?! _Ya could have burned us to crisps ya crazy moron!" He shouted with a mixture of exasperation and blind annoyance at the young man who thought it would be a good idea to get them out with a _flamethrower_.Sure, Juvia was there to put out his fires, but really, they had put up with enough already.

Natsu simply leaned over the edge and gave them a shit eating grin. "It's a shame I didn't aim it at your face. I would be doing Levy a favo-!"

Natsu didn't get to finish his sentence as a furious Gajeel struck him squarely in the face with a heavy combat boot.

…

It took Juvia, Gajeel and Natsu's combined efforts to successfully haul Levy out of the pit created by the wood and debris, with Gajeel pushing her up from behind and Natsu and Juvia pulling her up by her arms. The arguments, however, slowed them down a little.

"Gajeel! Get your hands _off _my butt!" Levy growled as she scrabbled to gain her footing on the wall. Gajeel seemed like he was enjoying this a little too much.

"But I like your butt…"

"Gajeel!"

Natsu looked scandalized. "Pervert?!" he squawked as he practically yanked her arm out of its socket.

Juvia simply growled in annoyance.

A huff from below, "_Fine _then_."_

He moved his hands to her hips instead and began to push her up with a grunt of pain as his back stretched. The added efforts of Juvia and Natsu, combined with her smaller body, had her to the top almost instantly. She wobbled precariously on the edge for a moment, before regaining her balance and stepping away from her two saviors while they tried to get Gajeel out. He would be a handful with his larger and heavier build.

Levy wasn't prepared at all for the sight awaiting her and didn't bother to stifle an anguished groan at the view of the big top…or what was left of it anyway.

She stumbled forwards, her hands moving up of their own accord to clasp at her mouth, which was hanging open.

It looked as if some sort of natural disaster had occurred. The big top was now one great big heap of blackened wood piled haphazardly into scattered mounds on the dead grass. The damage was awful.

A sharp glance around showed groups of circus members clambering around the debris, searching for any others who was caught in the explosion.

She could see Evergereen, Bixlow and Cana attempting to free Laxus and Freed from under a heavy metal pole. On her other side, little Wendy was desperately scrabbling around the rubble nearby with Romeo, holding hands as they both shouted for Carla, who was nowhere to be seen. Happy was also searching vigorously for the girl, and Elfman was plowing through a few piles of his own.

On the outskirts of the destruction, near the forest, was a small gathering of pale tents surrounded by caravans. A familiar metallic one stood out to the side and nearby she could see what looked like the library.

"_At least those are alright…" _She thought bitterly.

A rough wind picked up and she shivered. Pulling her coat around tighter, she looked into the sky. A large blanket of purple clouds filled it and spread away far into the distance.

Something heavy slung itself over her shoulder and she glanced up into deep red irises that she had come to know very well. Gajeel stared into her eyes intently for a moment before glancing around that the sheer destruction.

He growled menacingly, the sound erupting deep in his throat that vibrated through his chest. She could easily feel it with him so close to her.

"I'm gonna rip the heads off the bastards who did this." He hissed and Levy gulped. The last thing she wanted was for him to go headhunting when he while injured.

The weight on her shoulder became heavier and she realized that he was leaning on her for support. His t-shirt, now damp with blood, was beginning to soak into her own clothes at the contact she had with him and she quickly slipped an arm around his waist.

"Come on, let's go find Mira and ask for some bandages." She said when he raised his eyebrows at her in surprise.

He frowned and attempted to stand properly. He failed miserably and, with a grunt of pain, went back to slouching on her. He stayed quiet and she guessed that he was trying to save his energy.

"_Stubborn idiot."_ She thought with a roll of her eyes.

She gripped him tighter around the waist and pulled his arm further around her shoulder before making her way down the jagged slope.

"Oi, Levy!"

She craned her neck round to see Natsu. He had a bruise on his face from Gajeel's earlier hissy fit and concern clouded his expression. Juvia had wandered away to find anyone else that might be under the rubble.

A loud shout of "Grey-Sama! Are you here?!" Revealed that she only seemed to have one person on her mind at the moment.

Natsu glanced her way briefly. "Grey is missing. If you find him, tell him that Juvia is worried and wants to see him." Levy nodded and he hesitated before speaking again.

"And Lucy…I can't find her."

Levy's eyebrows jumped in surprise. "_Lucy is missing?! And I didn't even notice?" _She was suddenly racked with guilt, especially when she saw the anguished look on Natsu's face. The two had recently become extremely close and she could tell that the fire-eater was worried sick about her.

She shifted under Gajeel's weight and Nodded. "I'll help you to look for her."

The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile. "Thanks. But make sure that dumbass gets healed first." He said with a bob of his head in Gajeel's direction.

Said man grunted something unintelligibly and she nodded again before turning to make her way to the tents. She stumbled many times down the sloping edges and very nearly fell.

_"Good Lord, he is heavy!" _She had indeed underestimated his weight and was struggling to hold him upright without her knees buckling.

As she was nearing the grass, her toe  
caught on a sharp piece of metal and she began to topple forward.

"Shit!" She cursed as her head narrowly avoided a sharp pike of wood that was protruding from the ground. A hand then grabbed her arm and yanked her upwards. A flash of red hair was a tale-tale sign of who it was.

"Erza" She said breathlessly as the armored woman righted her and Gajeel.

She stared intently for a moment. "Levy, what are you doing? You know you can't take his weight, Here, hand him over."

Levy didn't have time to protest as Erza pulled Gajeel on her own shoulder and started walking towards the tents. She sighed and followed.

"I hear you two were the closest to the explosion."

Levy looked up. Erza was looking between her and Gajeel, wanting an answer. Even with the man's weight the redhead was easily able to make conversation without becoming exhausted.

Levy looked away from Erza's intense gaze and took to studying the ground under her feet. "I suppose so. We could smell the gasoline just before the wall exploded on us." She frowned. "He's more injured than I am because he jumped in front of me. Stupid idiot, he shouldn't do that." She mumbled the last part in irritation.

She looked up when Erza chuckled. The woman was giving her a warm smile and she glanced over at Gajeel, who was now unconscious and looking pale from blood loss.

Worry and dread filled her. He did not look healthy at all. "_Please, Please be okay…"_

They both began to pick up the pace, though Erza kept up the conversation.

"I was very suspicious when he first joined. Hardly surprising after that first confrontation with Phantom." She muttered darkly. "I was always on guard, never knowing if he was loyal or going to betray us at any moment."

"It was after a year that I finally began to trust him, as he seemed truthful and the hatred he feels towards Phantom could hardly be fake. He is rather quick to anger and a bit of a grouch at the best of times, but if there is one thing about him that I know of, is that he's _honest_." Erza looked at her then, her expression a firm calm, but there was something soft in her eyes.

Levy did not really know how to reply, so just stayed silent while Erza continued.

"He never really had proper friends. Just us comrades. Lily and Juvia were really the only ones he could stand hang around. Well, that is until you turned up"

Levy huffed with surprise as they neared the tents and shot Erza a questioning look. The redhead grinned in response.

"It's, well… It's nice and rather amusing to actually see how he acts around you. Teasing and happy. A look I have never seen on him before. And I also think that he _likes _having something to protect, especially when it's you. He thinks your worth protecting…that your precious." She smiled. "Well, that's what I think anyway."

Levy was speechless, staring openmouthed at Erza, whose expression suddenly changed to something one would find in their worst nightmares.

"And if he hurts you in any way, tell me and I'll kill him."

She let out a rather nervous laugh and instead tried to focus on the white tent that now stood before him. She paused by the entrance and pulled the side of the canvas up so that Erza could go through first, before she followed closely behind.

The interior of the tent was simply furnished in a typical looking infirmary, white beds lining either side of it. Most of those beds, however, were full. Master Makarov sat at the other end, looking grim, while Mira and an unfamiliar pink haired woman fussed over the sick and wounded.

Erza dropped Gajeel off at an unoccupied bed before moving away to talk to Makarov.

_"Oh no…_" Levy thought when she caught sight of a familiar head of orange hair sticking out from one of them. _"Jet…Droy." _

She first made sure that Gajeel was safely in a bed and said a quick greeting to Mira before running over. Jet looked like he had concussion and had a large bump forming on his forehead. She exhaled slowly when she saw Droy. He had many bandages covering his left arm and she could see the skin peeking out was pink and raw.

"_He must have been too close to the fire." _She thought glumly. She hoped that he would heal properly.

She was suddenly pulled backwards as someone roughly grabbed the collar of her coat and hauled her onto a nearby bed, opposite to Gajeel, who was beginning to wake up.

"What the?!" She exclaimed as the pink haired woman stood over her. She cringed backwards at the intimidating stare.

"Hold still." The woman said gruffly before grabbing her chin and turning her head to the side.

Levy did as she was told, not wanting to anger the already grumpy woman as she proceeded to examine the back of her head.

After a bit of poking and prodding the she moved away to stare imperiously down at her and Levy frowned at her warily.

"The name is Porlyusica." She said as she bent down to a nearby drawer.

The bluenette raised an eyebrow. "Um, I'm Lev-"

"Yes, Yes I know who you are." Porlyusica snapped before brandishing a package at her.

Levy flinched and hesitated before taking the package. It was cold.

_"An icepack." _She realized before reaching up to hold it against the tender spot on the back of her head.

Porlyusica nodded in approval and began to bustle over to Gajeel to check his wounds.

"There is some swelling and a bump forming but that should go down after a while." The woman said absently as she poked at Gajeel's shoulder harshly.

Levy was seriously beginning to question her healing methods when she swatted him over the head.

"Oy, wake up, you lazy bugger. I don't have all day you know."

The old woman got the fright of her life when he bolted upwards, almost smacking her in the forehead with his own one as he shot forward into a sitting position, eyes wide and wild. Even Levy jumped out of her skin at his sudden movement. Both she and Porlyusica cursed loudly.

"Levy?!" He asked when he saw her opposite him.

She simply smiled nervously and waved. He wasn't going to like what was standing right next to him.

Her assumption was correct, for as soon as he breathed out in what seemed like relief, he noticed the dark shadow looming over him.

He looked up right at a furious Porlyusica, who now looked like the stuff of nightmares. He paled ever so slightly.

"What the fuck is the hag doing here?" He asked incredulously.

Levy glared at him and Porlyusica poked the end of her broomstick at his face.

"You're just lucky she's here so I can't spill your useless guts everywhere." She said menacingly before pushing his shoulder. "Now roll over so I can see your wounds."

Gajeel glanced at her before reluctantly rolling over, wincing as he did so.

Levy chuckled a little. "_I'm going to get brain freeze." _She thought at the numbness at the back of her head and lowered the icepack. Her thoughts wandered to the library and the books she loved and hoped that they weren't damaged.

Deciding that Gajeel was in relatively safe hands, she stood up to leave. She needed to find Lucy, Grey and anyone else that needed her help.

"Where are ya going shorty?"

Levy turned. Gajeel was now sitting on the bed while Porlyusica tended to some other patients. She had to give it to the woman, she was violent, but she could work fast.

His torso was now almost on full display and covered in bandages. Levy felt the heat beginning to rise in her cheeks and she bit her lip and glanced away.

"Ah…Going to help Natsu and the others, they need an extra hand and I need to find Lucy." She was beginning to stammer and she mentally kicked herself.

Gajeel frowned at her. "I don't like that idea."

She sighed. "I can't just sit in here and do nothing Gajeel, they need my help and the last thing I want to do is let them do all the work."

He seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. "Right, then I'm comin' with ya." He said before moving to stand.

Levy rushed forward. "Gajeel, don't be stupid. I don't want you to het even more injured than you are already."

He managed to stand up to tower over her and, ignoring her burning cheeks, Levy placed her hands against his abdomen and tried to push him back. Unfortunately he was as solid as a rock and didn't budge.

He grabbed her wrists and she glared up at him, annoyed, but his look was intense and she only just managed to stop from going red again, though her heart was beating rapidly in her ribcage. _"Goddamned hormones…" _

He leaned down. "Either I go, or you stay." He said gruffly, his studded gloves beginning to dig into her skin.

She had to decide. If she tried to leave he would either go with her or drag her back in.

She spotted Porlyusica glaring at them from the corner. Mira, however, was giving them a sly, rather perverted grin that she desperately wanted to avoid. She had no choice but to look up at him.

She finally growled in defeat. "Fine, but if you even think-!"

Levy was cut off mid-sentence when the ground began to shake violently and, out of instinct, grabbed Gajeel around the waist while he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

The rumbling stopped almost as soon as it had started and Levy whirled around to run outside with Gajeel close behind.

"What was that?!" She shouted as they neared the exit.

Gajeel had been about to reply when Porlyusica shoved something at him. He glared at her and she shot him one in return.

"Have some decency and put the bloody shirt on!" She growled and Levy almost laughed at the strange woman.

Not bothering to hear the rest, Levy ran outside ahead of them and paused, searching.

There, near the forest on the other side was a commotion, and many other people were racing towards that area. She bolted forward after them, dodging piles of rubble as she went, before someone else running in the same direction collided with her.

"Gah!" She shouted when the impact sent her sprawling on the ground. She shook her head for a moment before looking up, confused and rather pissed off.

However, when she saw them, all she felt was surprise.

"Grey!"

The raven haired man glanced down at her and quickly apologized, helping her to stand before they both hurried after the others.

"Grey. Juvia, she was-"

"I know, I have seen her already." He huffed as they neared the large group.

She nodded and they slowed down before pushing through the gathered crowd. Grey soon spotted the other bluenette and made his way towards her. Levy pushed onwards until she was at the front.

She could see them standing on the crest of the hill that stood outside the gate. The very same one that Lily had stood on when he left. But these people were not kind like him. No…they were heartless monsters.

Levy recognized them instantly and her body froze in sheer terror. Her memories flashing through her mind at the sight of them.

But it was the blonde head of hair among them that she was most drawn to. Her heart practically stopped beating when she saw Lucy unconscious and being held up for them all to see.

A strangled noise erupted from her throat at the sight and the people around her began to shout in outrage, though none of them made a move towards them, not without Makarov's permission. And he wasn't there yet to give it.

A loud roar erupted from somewhere behind her and she was almost flung out-of-the-way as Natsu began to charge past, the flamethrower in his hands.

He was only just stopped when Guildarts grabbed his shoulders roughly.

"You fucking _bastards!" _He shouted and Levy cringed at the animal like ferocity in his voice.

Natsu began to struggle against the grip Guildarts had on him, and Levy went cold.

Her friend, her _best friend_ was up there. With _them_. She shuddered, almost cowering on instinct.

A low growl emitted from directly behind her but she didn't move, she couldn't. She simply stood there, her bones and muscles locked into place as Gajeel stood beside her.

He looked…"_deadly_." She thought as a chill went up her spine.

His face twisted into an expression of malice and his mouth split into a frightening snarl as he glared up at the people on the hill, his large canines exposed and threatening. But it was the eyes that unnerved her the most. Blood red and _burning _with a fierce hatred that almost belonged to the devil himself.

He took a protective step in front of her and it almost comforted her, though it did nothing to rid her of the horror that these people were capable of.

These were the people who ruined her life and continued to do so. The ones who took every ounce of her childhood and trod on it like it was nothing. The ones who took her parents…and the ones who scarred her.

There was a particularly shadowy looking figure there also. The sight of him made her blood run cold and she reached up to grab Gajeel's hand so that she wouldn't collapse. He gripped hers hard in return.

Makarov's voice then cut through the space around them. Low and harsh.

"Phantom." He spat the words out like they were poison.

The man of shadows grinned at them and opened his mouth to speak. He was far away but Levy could hear his voice clear as day, whispering in the very depths of her soul. She immediately wanted to vomit.

"_Fairy Tail."_ He hissed.

**;) we getting intense! I thought it was about time we heard from Erza and got a little bit of RoWen, tho it wasn't much, sorry D: I will work on it. Thanks for reading and please review! :D **

**Cheerio!**


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